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CHARLES'  A. 
COLL.AVAN: 


THE  WAR  PLOTTERS 
OF  WALL  STREET 


BY 

CHARLES  A.  COLLMAN 


THE  FATHERLAND  CORPORATION 

NEW  YORK 
1915 


v 


Copyright,    1915,   by 
THE  FATHERLAND  CORPORATION 


COXTEXTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     YOUNG  MORGAN,  BRITAIN'S  MUNITIONS  AGENT 7 

II.     THE   WAR   STOCK   GAMBLERS 16 

III.  THE  CURTAIN  RAISED  ON  WALL  STREET'S  UNDERWORLD    .      .  26 

IV.  WALL  STREET'S  BRITISH  GOLD  PLOT 37 

V.     OUR  BANKRUPT  "LADY  OF  THE  SNOWS" 48 

VI.     THE   CRIME  OF  THE  YEAR    1915 59 

VII.     THE   SHAM    PEACE   SOCIETIES 68 

VIII.     RED    LIGHTS    AHEAD! 78 

IX.     THE    "AMERICAN"    PILGRIMS 88 

X.     THE  MEN   WHO  TOASTED  THE   CZAR 98 

XI.     WHO  is  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS? 105 

XII.     Is  WALL  STREET  USING  SAVINGS  BANK  DEPOSITS  IN  SECRET 

LOANS   TO   RUSSIA,   FRANCE   AND   ENGLAND?    ....  119 

XIII.  THE  GREAT  NEWS  CONSPIRACY — How  UNSCRUPULOUS  NEWS- 
PAPER OWNERS,  AT  THE  BEHEST  OF  WALL  STREET,  DE- 
LIBERATELY DECEIVED  THE  AMERICAN  PEOPLE  .  131 


333432 


PREFACE 

These  stories  were  written  under  fire,  at  a  time  when  treason 
stalked  through  the  land.  They  are  human  records  of  the  amaz- 
ing acts  of  men  who  schemed  and  strove  and  plotted  to  blind 
ninety  million  people. 

Then  these  men,  with  immense  cunning,  set  themselves  to 
work  at  a  game  that  is  old  as  history.  They  coined  great 
fortunes  for  themselves  from  the  mad  passions  and  blind  hatreds 
they  had  instilled  into  their  fellow-men. 

We,  who  tried  to  expose  these  conspirators,  were  villified, 
threatened,  hounded  by  the  most  powerful  and  unscrupulous 
band  that  ever  organized  itself  to  ruin  a  country  and  its  people 
in  the  interest  of  a  foreign  race. 

Even  to-night,  as  I  write  these  lines,  the  plots  proceed  apace 
(October  22,  1915) .  Wall  Street  millionaires  are  calling  on  Con- 
gress to  expend  a  billion  and  a  quarter  dollars  in  the  coming 
year,  most  of  it  on  armament.  They  have  sent  the  war  stocks 
skyward.  Bethlehem  Steel  the  leader,  with  a  gain  of  59  points  in 
a  single  afternoon,  for  they  expect  huge  dividends  to  be  paid  on 
the  hundreds  of  millions  that  will  flow  into  their  pockets  from 
the  ''National  Defense."  They  have  announced  that  they  shall 
elect  Elihu  Root,  the  Wall  Street  corporation  lawyer,  as  their 
President.  England  has  deserted  her  ally,  the  Serb.  The 
Germans  are  marching  on  Constantinople. 

Some  plots  have  miscarried.  Other  war  plots  are  brewing 
for  the  further  enrichment  of  financiers.  Shall  we  let  them 
succeed,  these  fearful  crimes  planned  by  the  men  who,  for  a  long 
year,  have  hoodwinked  us,  used  us  as  their  pawns — THE  WAR 
PLOTTERS  OF  WALL  STREET  ? 

CHARLES  A.  COLLMAX. 


WAR  PLOTTERS  OF  WALL  STREET 

i. 

• 

YOUNG  MORGAN,  BRITAIN'S  MUNITIONS  AGENT 

One  autumn  day  as  I  was  passing  the  corner  of  Wall  and 
Broad  Streets,  where  the  new  but  rather  unsightly  home  of 
J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.  had  just  been  erected,  a  friend,  one  of  the 
leading  financial  writers  of  the  Street,  seized  me  by  the  arm,  and 
pointing  across  the  way,  he  exclaimed:  "Do  you  see  that  stone 
there,  streaked  with  red  in  the  front  wall  of  Morgan's  building? 
That's  the  blood  of  the  New  Haven." 

We  laughed.  It  was  jestingly  said,  but  in  it  was  the  tragedy 
that  lurks  behind  most  jests.  The  leading  men  of  New  England, 
trusting  in  the  integrity  of  the  Elder  Morgan,  had  invested  their 
family  fortunes  in  New  Haven  stock.  And  wrhen  the  great  blow 
fell,  no  men  knew  better  than  we  in  Wall  Street  of  the  many 
women,  the  widows  of  those  men,  who  had  come  to  interview  their 
bankers  on  the  wrecking  of  their  all.  Those  strained,  tear-stained 
faces  of  the  New  England  widows  haunted  the  Street  for  weeks. 
It  was  the  bitter  story  of  lost  homes,  of  sons  taken  from  college,, 
sent  to  work  in  the  factories  their  fathers  had  once  owned. 

The  Elder  Morgan  inflated  the  costly  bubble  that  disinte- 
grated the  New  Haven.  Throughout  his  career  he  had  trusted 
confidently  in  the  future.  And  she  was  kind  to  him.  He  died 
before  she  could  confront  him  with  an  accusing  finger. 

The  Elder  Morgan  died  and  we  saw  his  son  step  into  his  place,, 
into  his  fortune  and  the  seat  in  the  banking  house  that  heads  the 
Money  Trust  and  controls  the  finances  of  our  country.  Wall 
Street  was  breathlessly  curious  to  learn  what  manner  of  man 
was  this  who  now  headed  the  banking  world. 

Young  Morgan,  as  he  is  still  known,  bears  the  same  name  as 
his  father  and  possesses  the  same  facial  characteristics.  He  is 
tall,  with  a  strong,  athletic  frame,  a  firm  step  and  a  pleasant  face. 

7 


8      WAR  PLOTTERS  OF  WALL  STREET 

He  is  popular  among  his  friends,  and  no  whisper  of  scandal  has 
been  breathed  against  his  moral  life. 

The  Elder  Morgan  had  a  genius  for  great  financial  operations, 
he  built  immense  corporations,  and  was  an  art  collector  without 
being  a  connoisseur.  He  diverted  himself  by  buying  known 
works  of  art  at  the  highest  possible  prices.  There  was  a  sort  of 
bluff  heartiness  about  the  Elder  Morgan  even  in  his  despotism. 
He  once  scandalized  Wall  Street  by  slapping  his  chief  partner  in 
the  face.  They  called  him  a  pirate,  and  the  old  joker  dubb.ed  his 
yacht  the  Corsair.  When  he  died,  I  wrote  his  four-page  obituary 
in  the  Herald.  In  order  to  get  my  material,  I  read  about  every- 
thing that  had  ever  been  written  about  Morgan,  I  questioned  his 
friends  and  associates  and  consulted  my  personal  experiences 
with  the  banker. 

When  I  had  completed  that  obituary,  I  was  struck  by  a  most 
remarkable  fact.  Not  once  by  a  gratuitous  and  kindly  act,  in  no 
incident  of  his  long  career  had  he  displayed  the  slightest  sym- 
pathy for  his  human  kind. 

No  wonder  we  in  Wall  Street  were  curious  to  learn  the  man- 
ner of  man  Young  Morgan  should  prove  to  be. 

I  think  the  first  revelation  came  to  us  all  as  a  shock.     On 
February  21st  of  this  year  Young  Morgan  testified  before  the 
United  States  Industrial  Relations  Committee.    Chairman  Walsh 
asked  him  what  he  considered  the  proper  length  of  a  working 
day  for  his  employees. 

"I  haven't  any  opinion  on  that  subject,"  replied  Young 
Morgan. 

* '  What  do  you  regard  as  the  proper  income  for  an  unskilled 
workman  ? ' ' 

I 1  There  again  I  have  no  opinion. ' ' 

''Do  you  consider  $10  a  week  sufficient  to  support  a  long- 
shoreman ? ' ' 

"I  don't  know.  If  that  is  all  he  can  get  and  he  takes  it,  I 
suppose  it  is  enough, ' '  and  Morgan  laughed. 

' '  At  what  age  do  you  think  children  should  go  to  work  ? ' ' 

"I  haven't  any  opinion." 

The  spectators  at  the  hearing  began  to  regard  the  witness  with 
curious  interest. 

' '  How  far  do  you  think  stockholders  are  responsible  for  labor 
conditions?"  continued  the  Chairman. 


YOUNG  MORGAN,  BRITAIN'S  MUNITIONS  AGENT      9 

"I  don't  think  stockholders  have  any  responsibility  in  that 
matter, ' '  was  the  reply. 

"How  about  directors?" 

"None  at  all." 

The  witness  was  so  indifferent  and  unresponsive  to  questions 
affecting  laboring  men  and  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest  that 
the  members  of  the  Committee  gladly  let  him  depart  with  the 
remark:  "You  are  permanently  excused,  Mr.  Morgan." 

Now  Young  Morgan  would  tell  you  that  he  is  a  private 
banker.  He  has  resigned  from  most  directorates  of  the  banks 
and  corporations  with  which  he  is  connected.  Yet  he  still  owns 
and  controls  those  banks  and  corporations,  steamship  lines,  steel 
and  iron  plants,  and  the  great  world-wide  financial  machinery 
that  his  father  raised,  and  for  which  his  father's  father  laid  the 
foundations. 

Young  Morgan  as  a  result  of  all  this  has  immense  power.  It 
seems  to  me  that  there  lies  a  source  of  uneasiness,  if  not  acute 
danger  to  us  in  that  the  head  of  all  this  industry  and  banking, 
which  concerns  the  welfare  and  personal  safety  of  many  millions 
of  our  people,  should  openly  profess  such  unconcern,  such  a  total 
absence  of  sympathy  with  his  fellow-men.  Of  course,  a  man  may 
think  as  he  likes.  But  in  our  day  it  has  become  a  sort  of  unwrit- 
ten duty  that  the  man  who  makes  a  great  and  easy  fortune  from 
the  labor  of  others,  who  controls  the  public 's  money,  and  earns  it 
from  the  public  by  the  sale  of  large  security  issues,  should  exhibit 
some  interest  at  least  in  those  who  work  for  him.  I  don 't  recall 
a  single  instance  in  public  life  of  another  man  confessing  the 
sentiments  that  Young  Morgan  has  avowed.  We  see  that  the  laws 
of  heredity  have  been  observed,  and  that  the  son  has  inherited  his 
father's  indifference  to  his  human  kind. 

When  the  Elder  Morgan  died,  his  son  at  once  sold  the  Chinese 
porcelains  on  which  his  father  had  spent  vast  sums  gained  from 
"financing"  the  Erie  and  New  Haven.  He  sold  his  father's 
Fragonard  panels.  There  had  been  some  expectation  that  the 
son  would  bequeath  to  the  public  museums  his  father's  art  col- 
lections— an  act  of  expiation,  one  might  say,  for  past  plunderings 
of  the  public.  But  Young  Morgan  cared  nothing  for  the  public's 
good  wishes.  He  wanted  the  money. 

We  read  in  Carl  Hovey's  life  of  the  Elder  Morgan  that  the 
banker  gained  his  education  at  the  University  of  Gottingen. 


10  WAR    PLOTTERS    OP    WALL    STREET 

Those  early  associations  in  Germany  maintained  a  warm  spot  in 
the  old  corsair's  hardened  heart.  Now  we  see  his  son  selling1 
bayonets  and  shrapnel  that  savage  Sikhs  and  Senegal  negroes- 
may  ravage  the  land  where  his  father  spent  his  youth.  Young: 
Morgan  has  little  sentiment  for  his  father's  memory. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  European  war,  Young  Morgan  com- 
pleted arrangements  for  making  a  loan  to  the  Bank  of  France. 
This  was  on  August  6,  1914.  The  Washington  administration 
immediately  asked  American  citizens  to  observe  neutrality,  and 
declared  its  opposition  to  the  proposed  French  loan.  Young 
Morgan  then  abandoned  the  French  loan,  to  the  great  satisfaction 
of  the  people  of  this  country. 

Months  passed,  demand  sterling  dropped,  English  credit  was 
affected,  and  England  owed  Morgan  money.  Then  one  day 
Young  Morgan  left  this  country  for  England.  He  landed  in 
London.  When  the  American  correspondents  there  questioned 
him  about  his  errand,  he  refused  to  talk.  Young  Morgan  rarely 
talks.  He  went  into  the  country,  where  he  sought  security  from 
observation,  and  remained  there  for  several  weeks.  In  the  United 
States  Mr.  Morgan's  visit  to  England  at  such  a  crucial  time  was 
-viewed  with  many  misgivings.  That  the  foremost  American 
banker,  noted  for  his  British  associations  and  sympathies,  known, 
in  fact,  to  be  completely  under  the  domination  of  this  foreign 
influence,  should  be  in  England,  secretly  conferring  with  the 
heads  of  the  British  government,  was  sufficient  to  alarm  every 
one  of  his  countrymen.  And  Morgan  was  acting  thus  apparently 
against  the  expressed  wishes  of  the  Washington  administration. 

What  was  being  plotted  in  England  between  Morgan  and  the 
heads  of  the  British  government  ? 

* '  The  danger  hid,  breeds  dreadful  doubts. ' ' 

These  dreadful  doubts  were  soon  to  be  verified.  Young  Mor- 
gan returned  to  this  country  and  triumphantly  announced  that 
he  had  been  appointed  the  official  agent  of  the  British  govern- 
ment for  the  purchase  of  war  munitions. 

An  American  multi-millionaire  had  again  set  himself  above 
the  law.  He  had  committed  an  unneutral  act,  while  his  less 
wealthy  fellow-countrymen  were  besought  to  remain  neutral. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Mr.  Morgan 's  countrymen  received 
this  announcement  that  he  had  become  a  foreign  government 
agent  with  feelings  of  grief  and  shame.  It  was  incomprehensible 


YOUNG  MORGAN,  BRITAIN'S  MUNITIONS  AGENT     11 

to  them  that  an  American  citizen,  a  man  of  enormous  wealth^ 
driven  by  no  necessity,  should  deliberately  have  gone  into  the 
business  of  buying  shrapnel  for  the  killing  of  his  human  kind. 

Hatred  stalks  wide  through  the  land.  Lifelong  friendships 
have  been  disrupted.  Wounds  have  been  opened  which  may 
never  heal  again.  And  Morgan  has  brought  all  this  upon  his- 
country — the  country  which  has  showered  upon  him  and  his 
family  all  the  opportunities,  the  ease  and  comfort  that  an  enor- 
mous fortune  brings. 

But  Young  Morgan  cares  nothing  for  all  that.  He  wants  the 
money. 

When  recently  charges  were  made  in  the  British  Parliament 
that  Morgan  was  asking  too  high  a  price  for  his  shrapnel,  Lloyd 
George,  Morgan's  friend,  defended  him  by  saying  that  Morgan 
was  making  only  two  per  cent.  The  trade  in  munitions  is  said  to 
be  approximating  $2,000,000,000.  Two  per  cent,  of  two  billions 
is  $40,000,000.*  That  a  man,  lured  even  by  the  spectre  of  this 
sum,  should  go  into  this  bloody  trade  demands  the  possession  of  a- 
cold  and  hardened  heart.  Young  Morgan  has  all  that. 

We  remember  that  the  grief  and  destitution  of  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  New  England  left  the  Elder  Morgan  as  unmoved 
as  the  ash  on  the  tip  of  one  of  those  black  cigars  from  his  private 
Cuban  plantation. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  reproach  or  remonstrance  would 
move  Young  Morgan  to  abandon  his  dreadful  trade — no,  not  even 
though  the  widows  and  orphans  he  has  made  should  plead  with 
him,  because,  you  see,  he  has  no  sympathy  with  his  human  kind. 

If  the  general  public  was  amazed  by  the  act  of  Young  Morgan 
in  becoming  the  paid  agent  of  a  foreign  government,  what  was 
the  emotion  of  Wall  Street?  Bankers  are  the  most  conservative 
species  of  the  money-making  genera.  A  banker,  as  a  rule,  takes 
sides  on  public  questions  only  in  the  most  cautious  and  deliberate 
way.  He  wishes  to  get  everybody's  deposits,  and  sell  his  bonds 
and  mortgages  to  the  greatest  number,  as  a  baker  sells  his  loaves 
of  bread.  He  enters  into  no  antagonisms,  he  challenges  no  en- 
mities, since  such  courses  are  fatal  to  his  trade. 


•  NOTE: — This  sum  represents  only  Mr.  Morgan's  commission  as 
Britain's  agent.  Immense  additional  profits  are  also  being  made  by 
him  and  his  money  trust  associates  from  the  companies  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  munitions  in  which  they  are  interested. 


12 


WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 


To  say  that  the  banking  element  of  Wall  Street  was  thunder- 
struck would  be  to  put  it  mildly.  I  have  spoken  with  many 
bankers  on  this  subject,  and  the  general  sentiment  can  be  summed 
up  in  the  words  of  an  old  and  conservative  member  of  the  f  rater- 


THE  TWO  MORGANS 


'  :  *  '  The  Elder  Morgan  would  never  have  done  this  thing.  His 
son  has  left  his  father's  ways.  What  the  future  will  now  have  in 
store  for  him  and  the  house  his  father  left  him  no  man  may 
foretell." 

I  have  before  me  a  copy  of  the  London  Daily  Chronicle  of 


YOUNG  MORGAN,  BRITAIN'S  MUNITIONS  AGENT     13 

June  24,  1915,  containing  the  speech  of  Lloyd  George,  Morgan's 
friend,  before  the  House  of  Commons : 

' '  In  consequence  of  the  great  importance  of  the  American  and 
Canadian  markets,  I  have  asked  Mr.  D.  A.  Thomas — (cheers) — 
to  go  over  and  assist  in  developing  that  side  of  the  work.  He  will 
exercise  control  over  the  production  of  munitions  in  Canada  and 
the  States,  and  will  be  given  the  fullest  authority.  Mr.  Thomas 
will  act  in  co-operation  with  the  representatives  of  the  govern- 
ment in  the  States  and  in  Canada.  There  is  not  the  slightest  idea 
of  superseding  the  existing  agencies  there.  These  agencies  have 
worked  admirably,  and,  I  believe,  have  saved  this  country  mil- 
lions of  money.  He  will  co-operate  with  Messrs.  Morgan  &  Co.,. 
the  accredited  ag'ents  of  the  British  government." 

Can  this  boast  of  the  British  politician  possibly  be  true  ?  Has 
our  country  reached  so  low  a  pass  that  the  representative  of  the 
British  government  exercises  control  over  American  industries, 
acting  in  co-operation  with  America's  leading  banker,  the  agent 
of  the  British  government  ? 

Not  long  ago  a  demented  man  went  to  Young  Morgan's  home 
and  shot  at  him.  The  crack  of  a  pistol  smoked  out  the  fact  that 
the  British  Ambassador  was  present  in  Morgan 's  home. 

That  the  British  Ambassador  was  a  visitor  at  the  home  of  a 
pro-British  banker  would  not  be  noteworthy.  But  what  are  we  to 
suspect  when  the  British  Ambassador  is  secretly  found  in  con- 
ference with  the  agent  of  the  British  government  ?  "What  was  he 
doing  there  ?  ' '  The  danger  hid,  breeds  dreadful  doubts. ' ' 

If  Young  Morgan  still  retains  his  American  citizenship,  if  he 
has  not  abandoned  it  as  a  result  of  his  contract  with  the  British 
government,  as  so  many  of  his  pro-British  friends  have  done — 
Waldorf  Astor  and  Sir  ( ?)  Thomas  G.  Shaughnessy,  who  spat 
upon  republican  principles  and  renounced  his  American  citizen- 
ship to  swear  allegiance  to  the  English  throne — if,  I  say,  Mr. 
Morgan  is  still  one  of  us,  he  owes  it  to  his  countrymen  to  take 
them  into  his  confidence  before  a  Congressional  inquiry  is  made 
into  these  grave  affairs. 

Young  Morgan  should  tell  the  American  people  with  whose 
consent  he  became  the  accredited  agent  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, and  whether  he  first  consulted  the  Washington,  authorities 
before  he  compromised  his  country  in  this  wise.  He  should  tell 
us  whether,  as  Lloyd  George  says,  he  really  is  co-operating  with 


14  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Mr.  Thomas  in  supervising  American  industries,  and  how  far  the 
financial  resources  of  our  people  are  being  used  in  this  contra- 
band trade  with  England. 

Young  Morgan  should  tell  us  why,  after  abandoning  his 
loan  to  France  in  the  summer  of  1914,  he  now  makes  a  French 
loan  in  the  summer  of  1915 ;  why  he  makes  a  $45,000,000  loan  to 
Canada  and  is  contemplating  a  loan  to  the  British  government  of 
$500,000,000  of  the  American  people 's  money,  after  the  Adminis- 
tration in  Washington  made  him  abandon  these  loans  twelve 
months  ago. 

Clear  explanation  should  allay  the  dreadful  fears  that  a 
British  plot  exists  to  make  this  country  fight  England's  war  in 
Europe  as  the  price  of  $40,000,000  in  commissions  for  the  pur- 
chase of  $2,000,000,000  worth  of  war  material. 

I  am  sure  that  the  entire  country  sympathized  with  Mr.  Mor- 
gan when  a  crack-brained  fool  tried  to  strike  him  down.  It  sym- 
pathized also  with  his  mother  and  his  wife  who  were  prostrated 
when  they  learned  of  the  dreadful  attempt.  One  can  almost 
hear  the  two  women  pleading  with  the  son  and  husband :  *  *  Jack, 
give  up  this  dreadful  business.  You  see  what  it  is  leading  to." 

And  the  man  remains  unmoved. 

About  the  time  that  deed  occurred,  there  was  in  one  of  the 
Sunday  newspapers  a  halftone  picture  taken  from  a  Galician 
battlefield.  It  was  not  a  pleasant  picture.  It  showed  a  group 
of  Galician  peasant  women  assembled  about  a  wooden  shack, 
waiting  patiently  for  a. dole  of  black 'bread  and  salt.  They  were 
barefooted,  and  some  of  them,  had  beastlike  faces,  torn  with  suf- 
fering and  grief.  I  fear  that  our  women  also  would  be  barefooted 
and  show  beastlike  faces,  if  ever  our  homes  were  ravaged  by 
Russian  Cossacks.  In  the  same  paper  Lloyd  George  was  boasting 
that  Britain  would  win  the  war,  not  by  the  valor  of  British 
arms,  but  by  starving  women  such  as  these.  These  ragged  Gali- 
cian peasant  women  knew  that  an  Austro-German  regiment 
had  captured  on  that  spot,  from  the  Russians,  boxes  of  ammuni- 
tion "Made  in  America."  They  knew  who  had  sold  these  arms 
to  the  Russians  via  Archangel.  Oh,  it  is  known  by  this  time  over 
the  world.  They  had  come  from  Britain's  munitions  agent,  who 
thereby  was  earning  his  two  per  cent. 

But  these  ragged,  wretched  Galician  peasant  women  WERE 
ALSO  WIVES  AND  MOTHERS.  THEY  ALSO  HAD  SEEN 


YOUNG  MORGAN,  BRITAIN'S  MUNITIONS  AGENT     15 

THEIR  SONS  AND  HUSBANDS  STRICKEN  DOWN.  And 
these  women  were  primitive  natures.  They  knew  how  to  curse 
and  wail. 

The  old  Assyrian  kings  were  conspicuous  for  a  peculiar  streak 
of  cruelty.  When  they  captured  a  town,  they  proudly  record 
making  mounds  outside  of  the  city  gates  of  the  hands  and  ears 
of  their  captives.  "Those  whom  I  spared,  I  put  out  their  eyes 
and  cut  off  their  noses. ' '  Modern  historians  explain  this  peculiar 
trait  of  the  Assyrians  by  stating  that  these  people  lacked  imag- 
ination— that  is,  they  could  not  conceive  suffering  in  others  as 
applied  to  themselves. 

I  think  this  rule  applies  to  Young  Morgan.  I  fear  he  fails  in 
imagination. 

I  confess  that  if  I  were  Britain's  munitions  agent,  I  would 
wake  o'  nights  sweating  with  fright,  my  ears  ringing  with  those 
shrieks  and  wails  from  the  Galician  battle-fields: 

1  i  Cold  fearful  drops  stand  on  my  trembling  flesh. 
What  do  I  fear  ?    Myself  ?  there 's  none  else  by : 
There  is  no  creature  loves  me ; 
And  if  I  die,  no  soul  will  pity  me : 
Nay,  wherefore  should  they  ?    Since  that  I  myself 
Find  in  myself  no  pity  to  myself. 
Methought  the  souls  of  all  that  I  had  murder  'd 
Came  to  my  tent." 

I  have  never  before  written  a  word  in  criticism  of  Young 
Morgan,  and  what  I  add  now  I  write  with  reluctance  and  regret. 
But  this  pro-British  banker,  this  handsome,  stalwart  man,  with 
his  satiate  eye,  with  his  lack  of  human  sympathy,  with  absence 
of  sentiment  and  imagination,  walking  to  and  from  his  banking 
house  in  Wall  Street  to  earn  his  bloody  two  per  cent.,  I  regard 
to-day  as  the  man  most  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  his  country. 


II. 

THE    WAR    STOCK    GAMBLERS 

Wall  Street  has  many  moods  and  guises.  It  dresses  them 
in  externals,  as  an  actor  does  his  parts. 

The  other  day  I  strolled  into  the  entrance  of  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, and  my  eyes  met  the  large  placard  posted  there : — 

"Gallery  Closed  for  Repairs." 

No  repairs  are  ever  needed  for  the  gallery  of  the  Stock  Ex- 
change. I  knew  the  portents  of  that  sign.  I  have  seen  it  there 
before,  and  know  the  reason  why.  It  meant  that  the  public  had 
been  excluded  from  the  observation  stand  where  it  is  permitted 
to  watch  the  brokers'  hubbub  about  the  trading  posts  in  the 
country's  greatest  money  market.  It  meant  FEAR. 

So  I  went  around  to  the  Wall  Street  entrance,  where  I  satis- 
fied the  uniformed  watchers  stationed  there  as  to  my  good  inten- 
tions. For  all  entrances  to  the  Stock  Exchange  are  guarded,  as 
are  many  Wall  Street  banking  houses  now,  whose  partners  are 
kept  under  secret  protection  when  they  go  about. 

I  went  to  the  fifth  floor  of  the  building  to  the  "Library," 
where  the  financial  writers  congregate.  One  of  them  came  up  to 
me  and  whispered:  "Collman,  do  you  know  they've  just  put  a 
new  steel  wire  netting  over  the  roof  of  the  Exchange  ? ' ' 

We  interchanged  significant  glances.  * '  Why, ' '  I  asked, ' '  have 
they  been  getting  letters  again  ? ' ' 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  in  a  lowered  tone,  "but  they  asked  us 
not  to  mention  it  in  the  newspapers." 

In  order  to  verify  my  friend's  statement,  I  later  ascended  to 
the  sixteenth  floor  of  the  Commercial  Cable  Building  and  looked 
down  upon  the  shaft  which  opens  on  the  great  glass  dome  over 
the  floor  of  the  Exchange.  My  friend  had  not  been  mistaken. 
There  it  spread,  a  new,  glittering  steel  wire  netting,  strong  and 
durable,  protecting  the  men,  who,  far  below,  were  buying  and 
selling  war  stocks,  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  clamorous  din. 

And  I  could  not  refrain  from  asking  myself,  Why  should  men 

16 


THE    WAR   STOCK    GAMBLERS  17 

be  working  way  down  there  in  secret,  screened  from  the  public 
eye? 

Now  in  all  this  fair  land  of  ours,  those  who  are  engaged  in 
honest  work  do  not  hide  behind  steel  screens,  surrounded  by 
guardsmen  to  protect  them  from  the  public  gaze.  When  we  go 
to  see  other  men  at  business,  wre  are  accustomed  to  a  bright  Amer- 
ican smile,  a  hearty  handclasp  and  a  cheery  response  that  times 
are  good  and  trade  is  booming. 

When  men  work  in  secret  hiding  places,  we  are  accustomed 
to  associate  them  with  those  wretches  who  make  explosives  for 
the  slaying  of  their  fellows,  or  hatch  some  plot  to  strip  them  of 
their  coin. 

Is  it  possible  that  Wall  Street  can  be  engaged  upon  the  com- 
mission of  a  crime  ? 

Let  us  see. 

On  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange  there  are  1,100  member- 
ships. These  brokers,  as  a  rule,  are  handsome,  hearty  fellows, 
generous  and  good  natured  as  are  most  men  who  make  easy 
money.  They  do  not  produce,  but  absorb  from  the  surplus  pro- 
vided by  those  who  do  the  work  of  the  land.  Wall  Street  men 
know  this  so  well  that  many  of  them  engage  in  public  movements 
and  philanthropies.  Wall  Street  must  be  made  respectable.  Mr. 
Henry  Clews,  for  instance,  who  may  be  termed  the  Nestor  of 
the  brokerage  world,  is  head  of  the  American  Peace  and  Arbi- 
tration League.  To  some  it  might  appear  an  inconsistency  that 
war  stocks  should  be  permitted  to  be  posted  on  the  quotation 
board  in  his  brokerage  office.  But  then  that  is  business.  Since 
the  great  war  started,  however,  Mr.  Clews,  both  as  a  publicist 
and  a  public  speaker,  has  seen  fit  to  single  out  for  attack  one  of 
the  many  nationalities  that  go  to  make  up  the  population  of  our 
country,  and  that  is  not  so  well.  People  who  live  in  glass  houses, 
you  know. 

Mr.  Clews  and  I  have  known  each  other  for  a  great  many 
years,  and  we  have  always  been  good  friends,  although,  if  he  will 
permit  me  to  say  so,  he  is  a  foreigner  and  I  am  an  American. 

Mr.  Clews  was  born  in  England  and  came  to  this  country  a 
poor  boy,  for  his  native  land  had  nothing  to  offer  him.  We,  in 
our  country,  have  welcomed  Mr.  Clews,  have  given  him  the  priv- 
ilege of  making  a  large  fortune  and  enjoying  an  easy  life.  I 
think  we  all  have  rejoiced  in  seeing  Mr.  Clews  prosper.  So  far 
as  I  know,  nobody  has  ever  attacked  Mr.  Clews  because  he  is  of 


18  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

English  birth,  so  it  does  not  seem  quite  just  that  he  should  assail 
another  race.  Coming  from  a  man  of  his  age  and  standing,  such 
words  as  he  has  uttered  are  calculated  to  awaken  hatreds  and 
dissensions  that  might  tend  to  plunge  our  country  into  war.  I 
think  it  is  regretful  that  he  should  have  brought  over  to  us  his 
old-world  hatreds.  I  could  probably  say  to  him:  "Mr.  Clews, 
if  you  don't  like  the  views  of  my  country  and  the  people  of  my 
country,  you  had  better  return  to  your  own."  But  that  is  not 
the  American  way.  I  should  not  like  to  see  Mr.  Clews  returned 
to  his  country.  I  like  him  too  well.  I  admire  him  for  his  many 
gifts  which  have  been  useful  to  our  people.  Besides,  I  think  he 
has  a  kindly  heart,  and  is  merely  subject  to  an  English  fault. 

I  mention  this  attitude  of  Mr.  Clews  because  I  am  convinced 
that  it  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the  fact  that  Wall  Street  to-day 
conducts  its  work  in  secret.  This  -secretiveness  is  an  admission 
of  the  Money  Trust  that  in  backing  the  Allies  it  is  wronging  other 
races  in  this  country,  and  that  it  works  in  guilty  fear  of  them. 
How  much  better  would  it  be  for  Mr.  Clews  to  prove  his  loyalty 
to  his  adopted  country  by  advocating  an  embargo  on  the  ship- 
ment of  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  warring  nations,  thus  put- 
ting to  shame  his  next  door  neighbor,  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
American  by  birth,  but  official  agent  for  Great  Britain,  who,  for 
the  sake  of  the  money  he  makes,  brings  upon  his  country  crisis 
after  crisis  because  of  his  traffic  in  war  material. 

Throughout  the  United  States  millions  of  men  are  looking 
upon  Wall  Street  and  its  Stock  Exchange  with  eyes  red  in 
hatred.  They  see  there  disloyalty  on  every  hand,  bankers  making 
themselves  agents  for  foreign  governments,  naturalized  citizens 
eager  for  war  in  the  interest  of  the  land  from  which  they  came, 
and  which  they  seem  to  love  better  than  their  own.  And  among 
such  are  the  War  Stock  Gamblers. 

Mr.  Noble,  you  are  the  President  of  the  New  York  Stock 
Exchange,  which  is  the  medium  through  which  the  Money  Trust 
unloads  upon  the  public  the  stocks  in  its  war  enterprises. 

You  will  recall  that  several  years  ago,  after  the  public  had 
been  lured  into  Wall  Street,  plundered  and  stripped,  a  great 
outcry  arose  to  incorporate  the  Stock  Exchange. 

As  at  present  constituted,  the  Exchange  is  a  private  club. 
Its  members  do  as  they  like,  subject  only  to  the  club's  restrictions. 

"In  case  of  the  insolvency  of  a  member,  his  obligations  to 


THE    WAR    STOCK    GAMBLERS  19 

other  members  take  precedence  over  even  the  claims  of  a  cus- 
tomer who  has  been  defrauded/' 

The  proposal  to  incorporate  the  Exchange  was  greeted  with 
fury  by  your  members.  Your  predecessor,  Mr.  Mabon,  pro- 
nounced.it  a  monstrous  injustice,  and  at  a  dinner  members  hissed 
the  name  of  New  York  ?s  governor  and  threatened  to  remove  their 
organization  from  the  state. 

But  when  the  Pujo"  Committee  recommended  that  Congress 
prohibit  the  use  of  the  cnails,  telegraph  and  telephone  to  your 
association,  the  Exchange  promised  to  reform.  It  appointed  a 
press  agent,  Mr.  William  C.  Van  Antwerp,  at  a  salary  of  $15,000 
a  year — or  is  it  $25,000? — whose  duty  it  was  to  make  the  Ex- 
change popular  again.  I  received  some  of  these  reform  prom- 
ises from  the  hands  of  Mr.  Van  Antwerp,  and  as  I  thought  they 
were  earnestly  meant,  I  published  them. 

In  view  of  that  fact,  Mr.  Noble,  I  am  entitled  to  ask  you, 
How  have  those  promises  been  kept? 

To-day  on  the  Stock  Exchange  the  old  game  of  swindling  the 
public  is  in  full  blast  again,  but  in  a  form  crueller,  meaner  and 
more  contemptible  than  ever. 

You  know  to  what  I  am  referring — the  War  Stocks. 

What  are  war  stocks? 

Since  Mr.  Morgan  the  Younger  made  himself  Britain's  muni- 
tions agent,  the  pro-British  Money  Trust  has  jumped  in  to  manu- 
facture arms  and  shrapnel  for  the  Allies.  They  think  they  will 
make  "fat  money"  by  selling  this  material  for  the  purpose  of 
arming  savage  mercenaries,  through  whom  England  hopes  to 
wipe  out  the  Germanic  races  of  Central  Europe,  from  which 
more  than  one-half  of  our  people  have  sprung.  Well  and  good. 
But  the  Money  Trust  hopes  also  to  make  money  in  another  way, 
namely  by  foisting  upon  the  public"  at  high  prices,  the  stocks 
issued  on»its  war  plaVts. 

Among  these  war  stocks  I  shall  pick  out  a  few  conspicuous 
examples.  They  are  Bethlehem  Steel,  Crucible  Steel,  Westing- 
house,  American  Coal  Products  and  Pressed  Steel  Car.  There 
are  also  many  others. 

As  I  write  this,  Pressed  Steel  Car  has  been  manipulated  from 
$25  to  $59:?4  a  share:  Crucible,  from  $18*4  to  $9234;  Westing- 
house,  from  $64  to  $115 ;  Coal  Products,  from  $82  to  $170*4  and 
Bethlehem,  from  $29>i  to  $311. 


20  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Those  are  huge  advances.  On  what  are  they  supposed  to  be 
based  ?  Large  cash  dividends  looming  in  sight  ?  Mr.  Noble,  you 
know  as  well  as  I  do  that  the  members  of  the  Money  Trust  never 
share  their  profits  with  the  people.  They  will  put  such  profits 
as  they  make  into  plants,  and  issue  more  stock  against  the  latter, 
unloading  it  ait  still  higher  prices  through  the  members  of  the 
Stock  Exchange  upon  the  public,  which  is  to  be  neatly  flqeced 
again. 

Mr.  Noble,  did  not  the  Exchange  promise  us  that  such  repre- 
hensible manipulations  would  be  prohibited? 

You  know  far  better  than  I  how  the  hidden  machinery  of 
the  stock  boomers  is  being  used  to  stimulate  the  public  appetite 
for  speculation  in  war  stocks.  Paid  tipsters  float  about  uptown 
hotels ;  marvelous  stories  appear  in  venal  newspapers  of  fortunes 
coined  by  lucky  gamblers.  Stories  of  phenomenal  war  orders 
from  Russia  or  Great  Britain  are  impudently  invented,  such  as  a 
$90,000,000  war  contract  by  American  Can,  or  the  400,000,000 
cigarettes  supposed  to  have  been  ordered  from  the  P.  Lorillard 
Tobacco  Company.  In  these  two  instances,  well-meaning  direc- 
tors denied  the  lying  stories.  But  the  rumors  augment  daily, 
the  faked  contracts  grow  in  number  and  volume,  and  the  gam- 
bling fever  is* whetted  sharper  by  the  harpies  who  prey  upon  the 
savings  of  the  foolish  and  credulous. 

Now  and  then  a  high  official  of  one  of  the  war  stock  com- 
panies has  the  courage  to  step  out  to  try  to  stem  the  rising  tide 
of  gambling  which  always  leads  to  ruin.  A  member  of  the  Cru- 
cible Company  warned  the  public  the  other  day  that  the  stock 
was  not  worth  its  selling  price.  He  said  that  there  was  out- 
standing in  unpaid  scrip  and  accumulated  dividends  on  pre- 
ferred stock  $7,300,000,  that  the  company  is  guaranteeing  $7,- 
800,000  of  bonds,  and  has  $2,500,000  to  $3,000,000  of  bonds  out- 
standing on  its  subsidiary  companies.  He  pointed  out  that,  with 
these  obligations  in  sight,  and  with  the  large  expenditures  nec- 
essary to  finish  its  new  plants,  the  common  stock  could  not  be 
expected  to  pay  dividends  for  years  to  come.  The  shares  of  the 
company  at  once  dropped  five  points,  but  impudent  price  boost- 
ers took  up  the  song  of  "huge  profits"  again  next  day,  and  the 
market  plungers  soon  forgot  a  warning  sincerely  meant. 

Let  me  give  you  an  example  from  my  personal  observation, 
of  how  the  public  "makes  money"  out  of  war  stocks.  I  met  in 


THE   WAR   STOCK    GAMBLERS  21 

the  office  of  one  of  the  members  of  your  Exchange,  a  trader  who, 
several  days  before,  had  bought  100  shares  of  Crucible  Steel. 
It  went  up  three  points,  and  he  took  on  200  shares  more.  I  was 
talking  with  him  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  July  29.  Cru- 
cible had  opened  with  a  gain  of  nearly  five  points,  and  this  trader 
had  again  plunged  to  the  extent  of  500  shares.  The  stock  still 
advanced.  Flushed  with  the  sense  of  coming  riches,  he  turned 
to  me  and  said:  "I've  already  made  $3,000  in  Crucible,  and 
that'll  pay  for  the  killing  of  1,000  Germans.  What  do  I  care. 
Business  is  biz.  I  would  like  to  see  us  get  into  the  war.  Crucible 
would  extend  its  plants  and  get  still  bigger  war  contracts  from 
the  government.  Why,  you'd  see  it  jump  to  $1,000  a  share. " 

Crucible  went  to  79  that  day.  My  acquaintance,  the  trader, 
became  delirious  with  speculative  fever.  You  know  the  symp- 
toms, Mr.  Xoble.  You  are  a  broker,  and  make  your  commission 
out  of  such  men.  When  Crucible  went  to  79,  this  man  bought 
500  additional  shares.  It  went  to  83,  and  he  bought  1,000.  This 
was  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  if  my  memory  serves 
me  right.  Then  from  one  of  those  corrupt  sources,  which  the 
Exchange  manipulators  know  so  well  to  use,  there  came  a  story 
that  Bethlehem  had  bought  the  Crucible  company.  Traders  rea- 
soned that,  since  the  news  was  out,  they  had  better  sell.  Cru- 
cible began  to  melt  until  it  declined  to  66,  only  a  fraction  above 
the  price  at  which  it  had  closed  the  day  before. 

I  met  my  trader  a  few  days  later.  In  the  decline  he  had  lost 
more  than  $20,000  and  was  in  debt  even  to  his  broker.  He  was 
wandering  about  like  a  stricken  thing. 

He  had  thought  to  make  money  by  following  the  war  stock 
gamblers.  Poor  fool !  The  Money  Trust  had  made  short  shrift 
of  him. 

Do  you  ever  stop  to  think,  Mr.  Noble,  what  a  cruel  business 
your  members  are  engaged  in?  Do  you  not  think  that  at  least 
it  ought  to  be  played  fair? 

Let  me  call  something  to  your  attention. 

In  the  last  five  weeks,  as  I  write  this,  130,540  shares  of  Beth- 
lehem were  traded  in  upon  the  Exchange,  or  nearly  as  much  as 
the  entire  outstanding  stock  in  the  hands  of  the  public ;  in  Coal 
Products,  109,898  shares  were  traded  in,  or  more  than  all  the 
outstanding  stock ;  in  Westinghouse,  1,445,490  shares  were  traded 
in,  or  four  times  the  amount  of  the  outstanding  stock;  in  the 


22  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

instance  of  Crucible,  1,135,400  shares  were  traded  in,  or  five 
times  the  amount  of  the  outstanding  stock,  which  aggregates 
only  245,784  shares. 

This  undoubtedly  indicates  that  these  stocks  are  ' '  cornered. ' ' 
The  war  stock  gamblers  do  not  sell  the  stock  itself,  of  which  the 
floating  supply  is  small,  but  sell  contracts  to  receive  and  de- 
liver it. 

Mr.  Noble,  was  not  one  of  the  reforms  promised  us,  a  prohi- 
bition of  the  ' '  cornering ' '  of  stocks  ?  Is  stock  '  *  cornering ' '  per- 
mitted under  the  law  ? 

Into  what  deep  waters  have  thy  rowers  led  thee  ? 

The  old  argument  that  the  Exchange  has  nothing  to  buy  and 
nothing  to  sell,  and  is  only  a  meeting  place  for  its  members,  will 
no  longer  hold.  The  representatives  of  the  Exchange  did  not 
make  that  plea  in  Albany,  three  or  four  years  ago,  when  they 
pleaded  against  incorporation,  and  promised  honest  trading 
methods  for  the  future. 

One  of  the  members  of  your  Exchange  recently  said  to  me : 
"We  may  not  be  doing  the  right  thing,  but  we  hope  to  get  away 
with  it,  anyhow.'*  He  is  mistaken.  This  time  you  will  not  get 
away  with  it.  There  is  an  old  saying  in  the  financial  district : 
1 1  The  men  who  drop  their  money  in  Wall  Street  are  good  losers. 
They  never  squeal."  That  is  true.  The  man  who  has  been 
trimmed  in  the  Street  slinks  away  from  the  district.  He  has 
been  carefully  educated  to  the  fact  that  it  is  considered  bad 
form  to  blow  one's  brains  out  in  a  broker's  office. 

Already  the  financial  district  is  filling  with  the  stories  of  the 
heart-breaks  of  ruined  men,  of  suicides,  of  families  left  penniless 
through  the  work  of  the  war  stock  gamblers.  The  public  is  in  an 
ugly  temper.  It  is  not  the  same  public  that  rose  against  the 
Stock  Exchange  in  1912-13.  This  time  you  have  aroused  the 
anger  of  a  great  people.  It  is  an  undemonstrative,  conservative 
and  industrious  race,  that  forms  the  bone  and  sinew  of  our 
nation,  and  when  it  is  deeply  wronged,  IT  NEVER  FORGIVES, 
AND  IT  NEVER  FORGETS. 

Have  you  read  the  official  organ  of  Wall  Street  ( Commercial 
and  Financial  Chronicle,  July  31),  and  the  warning  it  has  ad- 
dressed to  you  ?  It  says : — 

' '  The  war  order  business  will  in  any  event  be  of  short  dura- 
tion. There  may  be  large  immediate  profits  (waiving  altogether 


THE    WAR    STOCK    GAMBLERS  23 

the  question  of  risks) ,  but  these  large  profits  cannot  in  any  event 
last  very  long.  But  the  prospect  of  these  large  profits,  albeit 
of  a  very  risky  nature,  is  being  dangled  before  the  eyes  of  the 
public  and  a  gigantic  speculation  is  being  carried  on,  evidently 
by  powerful  cliques,  with  the  view  of  utilizing  the  situation. 

"Similar  schemes  have  been  worked  in  the  past,  but  never 
has  the  transparent  character  of  the  undertaking  been  so  mani- 
fest as  on  the  present  occasion.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  who  are  in 
position  to  influence  popular  sentiment  or  who  have  access  to  the 
popular  thought,  to  warn  the  innocent  public  against  allowing 
themselves  to  become  the  prey  of  the  designing  band  of  manipu- 
lators. 

'  *  Has  not  the  Stock  Exchange  a  duty  in  the  premises  which 
it  should  not  neglect  to  perform? 

"The  Stock  Exchange  authorities  must  proceed  as  the  District 
Attorney  would  in  ferreting  out  crime.  And  after  the  offending 
parties  have  been  discovered,  further  dealings  with  them  or  for 
them  must  be  prohibited." 

These  are  pretty  strong  words,  Mr.  Noble,  but  do  you  know 
why  they  have  been  uttered?  All  over  the  country  people  are 
withdrawing  their  money  from  banks  of  deposit  and  demanding 
gold.  They  have  learned  that  the  Money  Trust,  which  is  selling 
war  munitions  to  the  Allies,  cannot  get  gold  from  the  latter,  and 
is  now  using  the  people's  money  to  reimburse  itself.  French, 
Russian  and  British  securities,  received  by  the  Trust  from  those 
countries,  are  being  planted  in  all  the  banking  institutions, 
which  are  loaning  the  public's  money  upon  them. 

If  you  do  not  believe  what  I  say,  send  to  me  and  I  will  show 
you  the  written  admissions  of  banking  officials  to  that  effect. 

Russia  is  bankrupt,  one-fourth  of  France  is  in  ruins,  and 
Great  Britain  has  scaled  down  the  principal  on  the  premier  se- 
curity of  the  British  Empire,  Consols,  which  it  redeems  at  only 
two-thirds  of  the  par  value  in  new  securities.  These  countries 
will  not  hesitate  to  make  a  partial  default  on  the  securities 
planted  by  the  Money  Trust  in  American  banks,  on  which  it  has 
borrowed  the  people's  money.  When  that  day  comes,  the  Wall 
Street  banks  will  have  to  call  in  the  loans  they  are  making  on 
the  inflated  war  stocks.  And  the  war  stock  gamblers  will  have 
made  another  panic. 

Do  you  remember  the  panic  of  1907,  which  was  precipitated 


24  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF   WALL    STREET 

by  the  Wall  Street  stock  gamblers  ?  Do  you  recall  how  the  streets 
in  the  financial  district  were  filled  with  the  mob,  and  the  steps  of 
the  Sub-Treasury  were  black  with  them?  Don't  provoke  them 
to  come  like  that  again,  for  in  the  year  1915  the  results  will 
be  different. 

In  "1907  you  relied  upon  the  Elder  Morgan  to  save  the  dis- 
trict. But  now  the  Elder  Morgan  is  dead,  and  can  no  longer 
lend  Wall  Street  the  millions  he  obtained  from  the  United  States 
Treasury,  and-  you  have  only  Britain 's  munitions  agent  to  de- 
pend upon. 

The  other  day,  Mr.  Noble,  you  issued  a  defense  of  the  Stock 
Exchange.  Sleek,  smug  and  smiling,  you  leaned  back  and  blamed 
the  "speculative  excitement,"  and  said  that  ''human  nature " 
could  not  be  curbed.  Caveat  emptor,  eh?  Let  the  buyer  be- 
ware. 

But  you  well  know  that  you  can  regulate  the  transactions  on 
the  Exchange.  Does  not  the  Constitution  of  the  State  prohibit 
horse  racing  and  gambling?  Did  not  the  Hughes  Committee, 
which  investigated  the  practices  of  your  association,  say :  1 1  In  its 
nature  it  is  in  the  same  class  with  gambling  upon  the  race  track 
or  at  the  roulette  table,  but  is  practiced  on  a  vastly  larger 
scale.  It  involves  a  practical  certainty  of  loss  to  those  who 
engage  in  it." 

If  you  do  not  wish  a  Federal  regulation  of  the  Exchange, 
which  will  permit  an  inspection  of  the  methods  used  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  war  orders,  then  call  a  meeting  of  your 
Board  of  Governors  and  proceed  against  the  war  stock  gamblers, 
and  strike  all  the  manipulated  stocks  from  the  Stock  Exchange 
list.  Abolish  your  useless  publicity  bureau,  and  devote  the  large 
sums  thus  needlessly  spent  toward  reimbursing  in  some  measure 
the  miserable  victims  of  the  Stock  Exchange  gamble. 

You  are  the  responsible  head. 

I  urge  you  most  earnestly  to  take  this  step. 

You  and  I  know  why  you  have  excluded  the  public  from  the 
gallery  of  the  Stock  Exchange,  why  you  have  installed  your  wire 
netting  and  posted  your  guards.  You  fear  that  some  poor  wretch 
who  has  lost  his  all  in  the  war  stocks  swindle  may  try  to  hurl  a 
bomb  at  the  men  whom  he  blames  for  having  despoiled  him. 
Or  that  some  crackbrained  foreigner  may  attempt  the  act,  be- 
cause his  brother  was  killed  abroad  by  the  Money  Trust  shrapnel. 


THE    WAR   STOCK   GAMBLERS  25 

In  that  you  may  be  right  or  wrong.  I  have  no  opinion  in  the 
matter. 

But  if  you  do  not  act  quickly,  I  fear  that  you  are  threatened 
with  a  much  greater  danger,  from  which  wire  nets  and  armed 
guards  will  fail  to  save  you  and  your  members,  and  that  is  the 
condemnation  of  the  GREAT  SILENT  MAJORITY. 


Ill 

THE    CURTAIN   RAISED   ON  WALL   STREET'S 
UNDERWORLD 

It  was  high  noon  in  Wall  Street  on  August  the  eleventh,  of 
the  Christian  year  nineteen  hundred  and  fifteen.  The  Sub- 
Treasury  stretched  its  gloomy  length  along  the  east  side  of 
Nassau  Street,  all  the  way  from  Pine  to  Wall.  But  at  this  hour 
the  financial  district  wears  its  cheeriest  smile. 

Little  typists  strolled  along,  arm  in  arm,  chatting  and  flirt- 
ing; messenger  boys  whistled;  brokers'  clerks,  accountants,  bank 
runners,  bond  men,  all  the  rout  that  makes  up  the  workers  of  the 
Street,  were  pouring  from  their  haunts  into  the  thoroughfares 
of  the  money  market. 

Then  a  change  flashed  over  the  scene.  There  was  a  rush  of 
many  feet  westward  along  Wall  Street.  A  body  of  mounted 
police,  with  stern  faces,  pistols  in  their  holsters,  galloped  up. 

From  around  the  Wall  Street  corner  there  came  slowly  up 
Nassau  Street  a  long  parade  of  motor  trucks,  its  mounted  guards 
on  either  side.  The  crowds,  that  quickly  gathered,  looked  on 
these  guards  who  had  driven  them  from  the  eastern  sidewalk, 
with  curious  and  sombre  faces.  They  seemed  to  view  a  funeral 
cortege.  And,  indeed,  something  in  our  public  life,  something 
that  was  very  dear  to  us,  was  buried  there  that  day. 

There  were  twenty-five  trucks.  The  rear  end  of  each  was 
closed  with  a  thick  steel  wiring.  From  behind  each  of  these 
gratings  one  could  distinguish  the  grim  forms  and  faces  of  four 
men,  with  rifles  and  automatic  pistols  in  their  hands. 

It  was  in  this  wise  that  King  George  of  England  sent  to  J. 
Pierpont  Morgan,  his  accredited  agent,  the  gold  in  payment  for 
bayonets  and  shrapnel. 

And  as  I  stood  there  on  the  sidewalk  the  blood  welled  to  my 
face  and  rage  surged  through  my  heart. 

For  I  asked  myself,  whom  do  armed  men  threaten  on  the  open 
street?  At  whom  do  they  aim  those  loaded  rifles? 

Brothers,  they  were  meant  for  you  and  me. 

It  was  the  defiance  of  Morgan  and  his  Money  Trust  to  the 
silent  wrath  of  honest  men.  He  said  :  ' '  Bow  to  my  will,  or  I  shall 

26 


WALL    STREET'S    UNDERWORLD  27 

shoot  you  down."  The  pleasing  masks  these  bankers  wear  had 
dropped,  and  there  were  revealed  the  hideous  males,  the  primal 
brutes,  cowering  over  the  gold  they  had  earned  by  the  mangling 
of  human  flesh,  gnashing  their  tusks  in  rage  at  the  people  whose 
sympathies  they  had  thwarted,  whose  ideals  they  had  crushed,  by 
the  shameful  trade  in  war  munitions. 

To  those  who  dwell  in  the  vast  stretches  of  our  country  that 
spread  far  west  of  the  Hudson  River,  the  doings  of  Wall  Street 
are  an  unsolved  mystery.  They  suspect  and  fear.  They  do  not 
know. 


I  shall  draw  back  a  corner  of  this  mysterious  curtain  and 
disclose  the  workings  of  Wall  Street's  underworld.  You  shall 
read  here  something  incredible,  unbelievable, — of  men  who  have 
duped,  deceived,  dishonored  you,  and  are  now  bent  on  plundering 
you  on  a  scale  vaster  than  has  ever  before  been  attempted  in  the 
history  of  our  time. 

Colonel  Robert  M.  Thompson,  a  high-minded  American  pa- 
triot, inaugurated  on  June  6th  the  organization  of  the  Navy 
League  of  the  United  States.  He  advocated  an  immediate  issue 
by  the  government  of  $500,000,000,  to  be  devoted  to  the  construc- 
tion of  a  greater  army  and  navy.  He  then  invited  a  large  number 
of  citizens,  supposedly  imbued  with  similarly  patriotic  senti- 
ments, to  attend  a  luncheon  and  conference  on  this  important 
subject. 

But  hold,  one  moment,  Colonel.  Why,  when  you  issued  those 
invitations,  did  you  not  address  them  to  public-spirited  and  dis- 
interested men,  who  have  the  peace  and  welfare  of  our  country  at 
heart?  Why,  on  the  contrary,  did  you  invite  the  members  of 
J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  official  agents  of  the  British  government  in 
the  purchase  of  war  munitions,  and  financial  backers  of  the  Steel 
Trust,  whose  products  are  being  turned  into  bayonets  and  shrap- 
nel for  the  Allies  ?  Why  did  you  invite  to  your  patriotic  luncheon 
the  directors  of  companies  making  millions  in  the  manufacture  of 
war  material,  and  bankers  who  make  further  millions-  from  such 
concerns  by  selling  their  securities  and  acting  as  their  transfer 
agents  ? 

Why,  when  you  purposed  to  spend  $500,000,000  of  the  public 
money,  without  consulting  the  people  who  earn  it,  did  you  confer 


28  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

with  the  members  of  Wall  Street's  Money  Trust,  into  whose 
pockets  those  $500,000,000  would  flow  1 

Here  are  some  of  the  gentlemen  to  whom  that  ardent  patriot, 
Colonel  Thompson,  addressed  himself  : 


J.  Pierpont  Morgan  W  S.  H.  P.  Pell 

Thomas  W.  Lament  D*^  Cornelius  Vanderbilt 

William  H.  Porter  W  Ogden  L.  Mills 

Henry  P.  Davison  W"  Frederic  R.  Coudert 

Charles  Steele  W  Francis  L.  Hine 

Paul  D.  Cravath  W  Edmund  C.  Converse 

Elbert  H.  Gary  BT*  Daniel  G.  Reid 

Harry  Payne  Whitney  1*""  Percy  Rockefeller 

Seward  Prosser  .      W  Frank  A.  Vanderlip 

L.  L.  Clarke* 


The  luncheon  was  held.  The  innocent  Colonel,  addressing  his 
distinguished  and  ''disinterested"  guests,  broached  his  pet  plan 
of  distributing  $500,000,000  of  American  money  to  America's 
armament  manufacturers.  To  his  gratification,  the  issue  was 
"enthusiastically  advocated,"  as  promptly  recorded  in  the  Money 
Trust's  organ,  the  New  York  Times. 

Now  let  us  analyze  some  of  the  activities  of  this  assemblage  of 
American  patriots : 

Messrs.  Morgan,  Lament,  Porter,  Davison,  and  Steele  are 
members  of  the  banking  house  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  agents  of 
the  British,  French,  and  Russian  governments  for  the  purchase 
of  war  material,  and  interested  in  huge  corporations  making 
huger  profits  from  the  manufacture  of  war  supplies. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  on  May  6th  said  that  "the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  has  been  getting  and  will  get  orders  for 
steel  from  concerns  in  this  country,  which  have  taken  orders  for 
shrapnel  and  other  war  munitions."  And  it  added  on  August 
3rd  that  "the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  has  obtained  a 
Russian  rail  order  amounting  to  $25,000,000."  Now  Messrs. 
Morgan,  Gary  and  Converse  are  members  of  the  Steel  Trust 
board. 


*  NOTE :— This  story  has  been  republished  throughout  this  country  and  Europe.  It  has 
put  Colonel  Thompson  on  the  defensive.  He  pleads  that  some  of  these  men  did  not  attend 
his  luncheon.  He  does  not  deny  having  invited  them.  He  does  not  deny  that  he  read, 
at  his  luncheon,  the  receipt  of  money  subscriptions  from  them.  He  does  not  deny  that 
Morgan  sent  him  money,  and  that  Morgan  is  the  leading  member  of  his  Navy  League. 


WALL    STREET'S    UNDERWORLD  29 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  added  that  "the  Lackawanna  Steel 
Company  has  been  helped  in,  war  orders  to  the  extent  of  $7,000,- 
000  for  rails  and  steel."  Two  of  the  invited  patriots,  Messrs. 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt  and  Ogden  L.  Mills,  are  directors  of  this 
company. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  further  related  on  May  4th:  "The 
President  of  the  National  Surety  Company  estimates  that  $1,500,- 
000,000  in  icar  material  has  been  contracted  for.  The  estimate  is 
based  on  the  applications  for  surety  bonds  it'hich  his  company 
has  received."  Strange  to  relate,  we  find  among  the  directors  of 
the  National  Surety  Company  the  name  of  Mr.  Frederic  R.  Cou- 
dert  who,  in  the  public  prints,  so  bitterly  denounces  Germany 
every  time  a  delicate  diplomatic  crisis  occurs  between  that  coun- 
try and  our  own.  Surely,  Mr.  Coudert  does  not  desire  to  see  this 
country  go  to  war  on  behalf  of  his  beloved  France,  that  the 
National  may  underwrite  more  surety  bonds? 

THE  COLONEL  UNMASKED 

Again  we  find  that  on  May  4th  the  Wall  Street  Journal  in- 
forms the  Street  that  "the  International  Nickel  Company  is 
enjoying  an  improvement  in  its  business  because  of  the  increase 
in  the  consumption  of  nickel  brought  about  by  the  war."  And 
what  do  we  find  here  ?  Oh,  shame  to  tell  it !  Ohy  Colonel,  Colonel, 
is  it  thus  you  dupe  your  countrymen  ?  Colonel  Robert  M.  Thomp- 
son is  chairman  of  the  board  of  the  International  Nickel  Com- 
pany, and  among  the  directors  are  Messrs.  Edmund  C.  Converse, 
S.  H.  P.  Pell,  and  Seward  Prosser. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  further  chronicles  that  "the  Ameri- 
can Locomotive  Company's  order  for  shrapnel  amounts  to  ap- 
proximately $65,000,000,"  which  must  be  of  specific  interest  to 
Mr.  L.  L.  Clarke,  one  of  the  directors. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  is  one  of  the  dead- 
liest of  the  "war  stocks"  on  the  Stock  Exchange,  and  Mr.  Paul 
D.  Cravath  is  a  member  of  its  board. 

Another  "war  stock"  is  General  Electric,  one  of  whose  direct- 
ing geniuses  is  Mr.  Charles  Steele,  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co. 

The  Farmers'  Loan  &  Trust  Company  is  transfer  agent  for 
the  General  Electric  Company,  and  on  the  trust  company  board 
we  locate  Messrs.  Percy  Rockefeller  and  Frank  A.  Vanderlip. 

The  Guaranty  Trust  Company  is  the  transfer  agent  for  the 


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32  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Westinghouse,  American  Car  &  Foundry,  Atlas  Powder  Com- 
pany, Hercules  Powder  Company,  and  other  war  munitions 
concerns.  Messrs.  Daniel  G.  Reid,  Harry  Payne  Whitney,  and 
Thomas  W.  Lament  are  its  directors. 

The  Bankers  Trust  Company  is  transfer  agent  for  the  Bald- 
win Locomotive  Works,  and  among  the  directors  of  this  concern 
are  Messrs.  Reid,  Hine,  Davison,  and  Converse. 

So  there,  all  the  disinterested  patriots  are  accounted  for,  yea, 
even  the  founder  of  the  Navy  League. 

Why  then,  I  ask,  should  not  Colonel  Thompson's  scheme  to 
spend  $500,000,000  of  government  money  have  been  ''enthusi- 
astically advocated"  by  gentlemen  so  closely  affiliated  with  the 
war  munitions  factories  ?  Why  should  they  not  have  leaned  back 
in  their  chairs  at  the  obliging  Colonel's  luncheon,  clinked  their 
glasses  and  cheered,  laughing  in  their  sleeves  over  the  jest  they 
were  having  at  the  expense  of  their  simple-minded  countrymen, 
while  they  slapped  their  capacious  pockets  in  the  hope  of  soon 
secreting  there  the  $500,000,000  to  be  spent  on  armament. 

For,  you  see,  the  war  in  Europe  some  time  will  be  ended,  and 
the  Money  Trust's  war  munitions  plants  must  not  be  idle.  No, 
it  is  the  duty  of  Wall  Street  patriots  to  organize  Navy  Leagues 
and  National  Security  Leagues  and  the  like,  that  the  government 
may  be  urged  by  the  great  patriotic  clamor  to  spend  vast  sums 
on  war  material. 

Colonel,  I  have  a  further  word  to  say  to  you.  You  are  a  per- 
sonal friend,  I  believe,  of  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett,*  owner 
of  the  Herald,  who,  I  see,  subscribed  several  thousand  dollars  to 
your  singular  scheme.  Mr.  Bennett  is  an  expatriate,  who  is 
cabling  frantically  to  this  side  of  the  water  that  the  United 
States  must  join  the  war  to  rescue  his  adopted  country, 
France. 

Colonel,  if  the  people  of  this  country  wish  to  have  a  larger 
army  and  navy,  they  will  not  consult  the  chairman  of  the  Inter- 
national Nickel  Company,  nor  Bennett,  the  Franco-American, 
nor  your  friends,  the  makers  of  shrapnel.  Their  representatives 
in  Congress  will  attend  to  that.  And  the  government  will  build 


*  They  are  cronies.  Both  have  broken  their  country's  laws.  James 
Gordon  Bennett  was  fined  $30,000  in  the  Federal  Court  for  sending 
obscene  matter  through  the  mails.  Colonel  Robert  M.  Thompson  was 
fined  $4,000  by  Judge  Holt  in  the  Federal  Court,  August  4,  1910,  for 
violating  the  Sherman  Law  in  cornering  cotton. 


WALL    STREET'S    UNDERWORLD  33 

its  own  armament  plants.     It  will  not  buy  the  idle  ones  of  the 
Money  Trust  when  the  war  has  ended. 
So  much  for  the  Navy  League. 

STILL  DRAWING  BACK  THE  CURTAIN 

Let  me  draw  back  this  mysterious  curtain  further  and  disclose 
to  view  the  great  spider 's  web  that  has  been  spun  in  Wall 
Street : 

On  the  first  chart  you  may  see  a  list  of  names  of  forty  Wall 
Street  men,  who  are  identified  with  the  war  munitions  concerns, 
or  with  companies  that  profit  from  their  work,  or  with  banking 
houses  engaged  in  contraband  traffic,  or  with  bonding  concerns 
that  insure  the  war  contracts,  or  with  banks  and  trust  companies 
that  act  as  fiscal  or  transfer  agents  for  the  munitions  companies. 

Now  Wall  Street  financiers  are  far-sighted  men.  From  the 
very  nature  of  their  business  they  look  ahead,  yes,  ever  far  ahead. 
These  men,  presiding  at  their  board  meetings,  are  authorizing 
vast  extensions  to  their  armament  plants.  What  do  they  mean  to 
do  with  these  great  new  plants  after  Europe 's  war  is  over  ? 

Let  us  look  into  this  phase  of  the  question  for  a  moment. 

11  Bridgeport  is  making  such  strides  in  the  manufacture  of 
arms  and  munitions  and  war  machinery,  that  predictions  are 
freely  heard  on  all  sides  that  it  will  grow  to  a  city  of  half  a 
million  population  within  the  next  few  years.  In  the  transfor- 
mation of  Bridgeport  into  the  American  Essen,  the  Remington 
Company  and  the  Union  Metallic  Cartridge  Company  began  to 
branch  out  and  put  up  great  buildings  that  dwarf  those  used  in 
the  past." — (Sunday  newspaper.) 

June  18th.— Charles  M.  Schwab,  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Com- 
pany, will  build  the  third  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  shrap- 
nel. August  22nd. — Following  the  recent  trip  here  of  Charles 
M.  Schwab,  with  British  and  Russian  army  officers,  it  is  an- 
nounced that  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company  will  build  a  large 
factory  near  its  shell  proving  ground  at  Cape  May  Point,  for 
the  making  of  powder  and  shells. 

August  12th. — The  Dupont  Powder  Company  has  begun  the 
work  of  staking  out  the  buildings  on  the  fourth  addition  to  the 
Dupont  plant  at  Carney's  Point.  The  addition  will  be  larger 
than  any  of  the  other  three  plants  now  in  operation.  When  the 


34  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

war  began,  the  company  had  only  one  plant,  the  others  having 
been  added  in  quick  time  as  orders  increased. 

August  20th. — The  Dupont  Company  is  to  distribute 
$58,000,000  in  new  stock  in  a  new  corporation. 

August  llth. — The  plant  of  the  Smith  &  Wallace  Company, 
manufacturers  of  electrical  supplies,  has  been  leased  to  an  asso- 
ciation of  New  York  financiers  and  will  immediately  be  converted 
into  a  war  munitions  factory. 

August  llth. — The  Bethlehem  Steel  Company  has  purchased 
the  modern  plant  of  the  Detrick  &  Harvey  Machine  Company. 
The  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war  will  be  begun  as  soon  as 
possible. 

May  29th. — The  Atlas  Powder  Company  has  secured  control 
of  various  powder  mills  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Stockholders  of  the 
company  have  authorized  $5,500,000  6%  cumulative  preferred 
stock  for  necessary  financing. 

Here  is  a  faint  conception  of  the  tremendous  new  enterprises 
of  the  Money  Trust.  Now  I  shall  quote  the  Wall  Street  Journal 
of  July  19th : 

1 1  Will  the  demand  for  war  material  outlast  the  conflict  ?  Will 
the  great  industry  that  has  been  established  in  so  short  a  time 
end  with  the  war?  It  is  noticeable  that  those  concerns  that  are 
erecting  plant  extensions  or  new  plants  to  take  care  of  the  war 
business,  are  not  providing  temporary  and  inexpensive  struc- 
tures. They  are  building  modern  and  permanent  structures  of 
brick  or  concrete  and  steel. 

MORE    WARS   TO    COME 

"If  the  war  continues  or  is  followed  by  others,  the  munition 
makers  would  be  in  a  position  to  reap  enormous  profits  as  a  result 
of  having  the  plants  ready." 

Yes,  our  far-sighted  financiers  will  see  to  it  that  this  war  * '  is 
followed  by  others/'  And  they  will  "reap  enormous  profits." 

But  who,  at  the  dictum  of  the  Money  Trust,  will  toil  to  pay 
for  those  untold  millions  to  be  spent  by  our  country  on  armament 
for  the  upkeep  of  the  new  war  plants?  Who,  at  the  dictum  of 
the  Money  Trust,  must  shed  their  blood  in  the  wars  that  are 
"followed  by  others"? 

Brothers,  you  and  I. 

Yes,  and  then  we,  too,  shall  echo  the  bitter  groans  we  have 


WALL    STREET'S    UNDERWORLD  35 

heard  emitted  by  despairing  millions,  staggering  under  the  mili- 
tary burdens  of  Europe's  monarchies. 

And  now  are  we  to  be  the  dupes  of  Wall  Street  "patriots"? 
If  we  investigate  the  patriotism  of  the  members  of  the  Money 
Trust  we  shall  find  it  to  be  thin-skinned,  indeed.  Their  ambition 
is  to  amass  great  fortunes,  and  then  to  seek  their  homes  abroad. 
They  choose  new  homes  in  France  and  England  for  reasons  such 
as  to  escape  unpleasant  public  inquiries,  or  that  they  may  lead 
lives  that  would  not  be  approved  by  their  fellow  country- 
men. 

I  refer  to  expatriates  such  as  James  Stillman,  one-time  presi- 
dent .of  the  National  City  Bank ;  James  Hazen  Hyde,  of  insurance 
scandal  fame :  William  E.  Corey,  of  the  Steel  Trust,  and  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  of  unsavory  name.  I  refer  to  men  like  Henry 
James,  who  renounced  his  country;  to  men  like  Sir  Thomas 
Shaughnessy,  who  sold  his  American  birthright  for  a  foreign 
title. 

But  when  the  day  of  trouble  comes,  such  fine  gentry  troop 
back  home,  as  these  have  done.  And  then  they  read  us  a  lesson 
in  patriotism,  and  tell  us  that  we  must  fight  for  the  countries  of 
their  adoption. 

Yes,  they  say  that  to  us ;  we,  the  millions  who  stay  here  and 
toil  and  suffer  for  our  country's  good;  we,  who  are  descended 
from  races  other  than  the  English ;  we,  whose  fathers  tilled  the 
soil  in  pioneer  days,  and  shed  their  blood  in  all  our  country's 
wars. 

They  tell  us  that  we  must  fight  for  England,  these  expatriates, 
these  lip-patriots,  their  pockets  fat  with  British  gold — we  must 
fight  for  England,  the  hereditary  enemy  of  our  land,  for  her 
against  whom  our  fathers  fought,  for  England,  our  worst  enem'y 
to-day. 

"If  I  am  asked  u'hat  I  mean  by  a  'reasonably  possible  enemy,' 
I  reply — any  power  except  Great  Britain." — Former  Attorney 
General  Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  at  a  meeting  of  the  National 
Security  League  in  Carnegie  Hall  on  June  15th. 

I  say  to  you,  you  Forty  Gentlemen  of  Wall  Street's  Spider's 
Web: 

Gentlemen,  many  of  you  were  born  of  gentle  blood.  Most  of 
you  have  all  the  money  you  require. 

Gentlemen,  you  are  standing  with  foreigners  against  your 


36  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

own  countrymen.  You  are  defying  the  sentiments  of  millions; 
you  are  outraging  their  highest  and  holiest  beliefs. 

I  ask  you  to  arise  in  your  board  meetings  and  protest  against 
this  bloody  trade.  I  ask  you  to  help  us  with  your  great  influence 
to  check  this  fury-mad  pro-British  crew  that  seeks  to  hurl  our 
country  into  a  foreign  war  in  which  it  has  no  share. 

If  men  of  your  type  remain  quiescent  in  this  hour  of  danger, 
then  our  country  has  sunk  to  a  low  pass  indeed.  Thousands  of 
years  ago  men,  such  as  we,  founded  republics  very  much  like 
ours,  in  Greece  and  Rome.  But  they  succumbed  to  plutocrats. 

Gentlemen,  are  there  those  among  you  who  have  courage  and 
no  fear? 

Some  among  you  I  know  well.  I  can  see  them  lean  back  and 
sneer:  ''Oh,  I  don't  care  what  is  published  about  me  in  THE 
FATHERLAND.  THE  FATHERLAND  is  bought  with  German  gold," 
and  then  they  laugh  and  wink  and  jingle  in  their  pockets  their 
British  gold  made  in  a  shameful  trade. 

Do  you  know  why  this  is  published  in  THE  FATHERLAND  ?  I 
shall  tell  you.  I  can  point  out  among  you  and  your  Wall  Street 
friends  the  names  of  men  who  are  part  owners  of  the  great  New 
York  dailies,  who  finance  them,  and  dominate  them  with  their 
advertising.  Small  wonder  that  the  Money  Trust  has  poisoned 
the  public  mind  with  the  tainted  syndicate  news  services  sent 
broadcast  throughout  our  country. 

The  New  York  newspapers  know  that  what  I  write  about  the 
Money  Trust  is  true,  but  they  do  not  dare  to  print  the  truth. 
And  that  is  why  it  is  printed  in  THE  FATHERLAND. 

Brothers,  these  men  have  wealth  and  power,  but  they  are  few. 
We  are  many,  and  as  Edwin  Lawrence  Godkin  truly  said:  "In 
the  voice  of  the  majority  there  is  all  the  majesty  of  doom." 

You,  who  love  your  country,  join  us,  work  with  us,  for  "the 
dark  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work." 


IV. 
WALL  STREET'S   BRITISH   GOLD   PLOT 

I  intend  to  tell  an  amazing  story  of  a  plot  engineered  by  Lon- 
don bankrupts,  with  whom  miserable  men  in  Wall  Street  have 
combined  to  ruin  us — their  own  fellow-countrymen.  I  shall 
describe  how  all  the  insidious  weapons  of  the  Money  Trust  are 
being  used  to  further  this  traitorous  design. 

It  was  nearing  the  end  of  last  June,  when  the  munition 
makers  of  Wall  Street  found  themselves  in  an  embarrassing,  if 
not  terrible,  position.  Their  trade  in  guns,  bayonets  and  shrap- 
nel had  swollen  to  enormous  proportions;  in  fact,  far  beyond 
their  initial  calculations — approximating  $2,000,000,000.  Two 
Billion  Dollars.  And  suddenly  their  customers,  the  Allies — Eng- 
land, France  and  Russia — could  no  longer  pay  them ! 

A  series  of  bond  flotations  has  just  failed  in  London — Cana- 
dian, Australian  and  South  African  loans.  A  large  war  loan  had 
just  been  launched  in  Threadneedle  Street.  Private  cable  advices 
reached  Wall  Street,  with  disquieting  rumors  concerning  the  sol- 
vency of  the  United  Kingdom. 

Then  Mr.  Henry  P.  Davison,  the  partner  of  Mr.  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan,  of  "Morgan,  Grenfell  &  Co.,  London, "  departed  hastily 
on  the  swiftest  steamship  bound  for  English  shores.  Mr.  Davison 
investigated  the  situation  abroad,  and  returned,  accompanied  by 
a  bodyguard  of  private  detectives,  to  protect  him  from  bodily 
harm.  He  made  his  report. 

Tlie  conditions  resulting  from  Britain's  great  war  loan  had 
been  found  ghastly.  The  government  had  placed  a  minimum 
price  of  65  on  Consols,  the  premier  security  of  the  British  Em- 
pire, to  prevent  their  price  from  dropping  to  40.  And  Consols 
were  unsalable. 

Then  the  British  government,  driven  to  desperate  straits, 
found  itself  obliged  to  scale  down  its  great  national  debt,  by 
forcing  the  holders  of  Consols  to  exchange  them  at  the  ratio  of 
£75  in  Consols  for  £50  in  the  new  war  loan.  By  this  autocratic 

37 


38  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

act  Englishmen  were  compelled  to  reduce  the  capital  of  their 
fortunes  by  one-third.  A  man  who  had  invested  £300,000  in 
Consols  had  now  a  fortune  of  but  £200,000,  although  his  income 
was  temporarily  higher. 

Bankers  who  hold  London 's  finance  in  their  hands  were  co- 
erced and  blackmailed  by  their  own  government  to  exchange  their 
securities. 

Many  of  them  were  the  heaviest  holders  of  Consols,  and  the 
threat, was  made  that  if  they  did  not  exchange,  the  minimum 
price  of  Consols  would  be  lowered  to  40,  and  they  would  be 
ruined. 

So  England  treats  her  own  subjects,  the  holders  of  her  best 
security.  What  will  she  do  to  the  Americans  who  have  been 
forced  by  pro-British  bankers  to  take  over  already  $500,000,000 
of  her  paper f 

And  the  proportion  of  the  reserve  to  liabilities  of  the  Bank  of 
England  had  dropped  during  the  week  ended  July  21st  to 
18.09%  !  This  reserve  in  July,  1914,  had  been  52.4% ;  in  July, 
1913,  53.69%  ;  in  July,  1911,  54.5%.  Great  Britain's  credit  was 
lost!  She  could  send  us  no  more  gold  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
pay  her  debts  to  us. 

I  am  quoting  the  official  figures.  No  man  can  dispute  them. 
They  are  accessible  to  everyone,  but  not  one  of  the  Money  Trust 
newspapers  in  New  York  dared  to  print  the  facts.  For  the 
Money  Trust  holds  in  its  bank  vaults  loans  on  many  of  these 
dailies,  or  finances  them,  or  would  withdraw  its  immense  adver- 
tising were  they  to  offend. 

Then  there  came  to  a  Wall  Street  banking  house  this  private 
cable,  which  struck  like  a  thunderbolt:  "A  BOLD  SCHEME  OF 
INTERNATIONAL  FINANCE  IN  LINE  WITH  THE  BRIT- 
ISH CHANCELLOR'S  HANDLING  OF  THE  RECENT  WAR 
LOAN  IS  TO  BE  APPLIED  TO  BRITAIN'S  INTERNA- 
TIONAL OBLIGATIONS." 

This  "bold  scheme"  was  the  inauguration  of  Wall  Street's 
British  gold  plot.  The  British  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
who  planned  it,  is  the  friend  of  Morgan,  of  "Morgan,  Grenfell 
&  Co.,  of  London." 

England  fears  bankruptcy.  And  in  this  she  is  now  using  us 
as  she  used  Belgium  to  fight  her  battles — and  deserted  her.  As 
she  used  France  to  do  her  fighting — and  now  fails  to  aid  her. 


WALL    STREET'S    BRITISH    GOLD    PLOT          39 

As  she  has  used  Russia  and  Italy,  and  will  in  turn  desert  them. 
And  she  is  using  us,  to  ruin  us. 


But  England  has  promised  to  "finance"  Belgium,  France, 
Russia  and  Italy.  True  to  her  traditions,  she  has  done  it  in  this 
wise.  She  has  said  to  the  representatives  of  those  four  countries, 
through  the  Chancellor:  "Gentlemen,  I  have  no  money  to  give 
you,  but  I  shall  use  Morgan,  my  agent  in  Wall  Street.  I  shall 
get  him  to  force  the  Yankees  to  give  you  credit  for  your  war 
munitions,  and  he  and  his  friends  will  pay  themselves  by  taking 
the  money  the  Yankees  have  put  in  their  banks.  My  financial 
agents  shall  take  your  agents  to  Wall  Street,  and  there  we  will 
close  the  deal. ' ' 

And  these  financial  agents  are  coming  to  us:  Sir  Edward 
Holden,  Baron  Reading,  Sir  Henry  Babington  Smith,  and  Basil 
B.  Blackett.  They  bring  their  French  dupes,  Octave  Homberg 
and  Ernest  Mallet. 

It  is  a  case  of  "Hands  Across  the  Sea" — but  this  time  the 
thieving  hands  are  in  our  pockets. 

As  well  may  be  imagined,  there  was  fear  and  trembling  in 
the  councils  of  the  Money  Trust  bankers  in  Wall  Street  when 
they  learned  the  orders  the  British  Chancellor  had  issued  to 
them  through  his  British  agent,  Morgan.  You  see,  they  had  ex- 
pected months  before  that  England  would  crush  Germany,  and 
she  had  done  nothing  of  the  sort.  They  had  expected  it,  as  the 
Belgian  dupes  had  expected  it,  as  the  French  dupes  had  ex- 
pected it. 

But  how  were  the  Money  Trust  munition  makers  to  be  paid  ? 
England  could  not  pay  them;  France  and  Russia  could  not  pay 
them.  THEN  THE  MONEY  TRUST  BANKERS  DECIDED 
THAT  THEY  MUST  OBEY  THE  BRITISH  CHANCEL- 
LOR'S INSTRUCTIONS;  THAT  THEY  WOULD  SAVE 
THEMSELVES  BY  MAKING  THE  AMERICAN  PEOPLE 
PAY  THEM  FOR  THE  BAYONETS  AND  SHRAPNEL 
THEY  HAD  SOLD  TO  THE  ALLIES. 

Quickly,  secretly,  hurriedly  the  members  of  the  Money  Trust 
began  to  "plant"  the  "paper"  of  England,  France  and  Russia 
in  their  banks.  And  these  banks,  without  the  knowledge  or  con- 


40 


WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 


sent  of  their  American  depositors,  gave  the  money  of  their 
depositors  to  the  members  of  the  Money  Trust. 

When  Britain,  France  and  Russia  default  on  their  securities, 
or  scale  them  down,  as  they  have  done  with  their  securities  at 
home,  the  American  people  will  lose  their  money.  It  is  the  same 
old  story  over  again.  The  Money  Trust  has  the  cash.  What  does 
it  care  for  the  people  ? 

We  have  seen  that  the  British  Chancellor's  bold  scheme  is 
to  be  "in  line  with  his  handling  of  the  recent  war  loan." 


•^ 


Britain'*  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 


SOHB  of  the  Plotters 
In  the  Great  Wail  street  ConeplrMj 


The  8»Tlng8  of  our  People  are  Ming  Risked  to    Aid 
England  In  her  War. 


Through  his  handling  of  the  war  loan  we  have  seen  that  English- 
men were  forced  to  sacrifice  one-third  of  their  fortunes.  What 
proportion  of  American  fortunes  are  to  be  sacrificed  to  the 
British  Chancellor's  orders? 

On  July  15th  Dr.  E.  E.  Pratt,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Foreign 
and  Domestic  Commerce,  before  the  Virginia  Bankers'  Associa- 
tion, estimated  that  the  total  loans  of  American  money  and 
credit  to  Europe,  so  far  during  the  war,  amounted  to  $500,000,- 
000.  He  suggested  that  these  loans  were  an  "economic  fallacy." 

I  quote  the  following  letter  from  one  of  the  leading  trust 
companies  in  New  York : 


WALL    STREET'S    BRITISH    GOLD    PLOT          41 

New  York,  July  27,  1915. 

' '  We  beg  to  state  that  this  company  is  not  lending  its  funds  to 
any  person,  firm  or  corporation  engaged  in  the  manufacture  or 
dealing  in  arms  and  ammunition  to  be  used  to  further  the  inter- 
ests of  any  of  the  countries  now  at  war. 

"It  is,  however,  impossible  for  us  to  trace  the  actual  amounts 
of  money  loaned,  and  it  could  happen  that  funds  loaned  by  this 
company,  to  one  person,  could  in  turn  be  loaned  by  him  to  an- 
other, and  in  this  manner  the  funds  might  be  used  for  the  pur- 
poses above  mentioned. 

* '  We  might  add,  however,  that  we  hold  for  investment  some 
of  the  securities  of  the  French  government,  and  have  obligated 
ourselves  to  later  take  over  a  participation  in  a  loan  to  the  Domin- 
ion of  Canada. 

"It  is  the  writer's  opinion  that  you  will  find  that  all  of  the 
important  financial  institutions  in  this  city  own  securities  of  this 
kind,  on  account  of  the  safety  of  the  investments  and  the  profit- 
able character  of  such  business." 

HALF    A    BILLION   LOANED 

We  have  seen  then  that  up  to  July  15th  $500,000,000  of  the 
American  people's  money  had  been  loaned  to  countries  whose 
solvency  is  doubtful,  if  not  altogether  gone.  And  all  this  had 
been  done,  swiftly,  secretly  by  the  Money  Trust,  through  its 
power  of  holding  the  whiplash  over  financial  institutions,  in  order 
that  it  might  get  back  its  money. 

But  the  public  had  by  this  time  become  uneasy.  It  had  made 
inquiries  at  its  banks  and  learned  the  truth.  Then  the  Money 
Trust  adopted  the  methods  it  knows  so  well  to  use  in  order  to 
disabuse  the  public  mind  of  any  apprehensions.  The  people 
might  become  alarmed,  you  see,  and  withdraw  their  money  from 
the  banks.  So  reports  were  carefully  spread  throughout  the 
country  that  the  finances  of  England,  France  and  Russia  were  in 
excellent  shape,  and  that  they  were  sending  us  vast  sums  of 
gold. 

Accordingly,  on  August  10th,  the  Money  Trust,  through  one 
of  its  bankers,  "planted"  a  story  with  glaring  headlines  in  the 
New  York  Times,  an  organ  which  it  uses  for  such  purposes.  The 
story  dwelt  on  the  importance  of  the  shipment  of  $100,000.000 
in  English  gold  to  this  country,  and  alleged  that  it  had  been 
sent  to  this  side  on  a  British  warship  commanded  by  Admiral 
Beatty.  Through  its  syndicate  news  service,  which  has  been 


42  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

serviceable  to  the  Money  Trust  in  misleading  the  public  for  the 
last  year,  the  Times  sent  this  story  broadcast. 

Of  course,  everyone  knows  that  British  admirals  skulk  in 
British  harbors  for  fear  of  the  German  submarine,  and  that  the 
Bank  of  England  would  fear  to  separate  itself  from  $100,000,000 
in  gold  because  of  its  low  reserves.  And  the  next  morning  the 
truth  could  not  be  concealed,  since  the  Sub-Treasury  figures 
could  not  be  falsified,  and'  the  reluctant  official  statement  was  to 
the  effect  that  the  shipment  amounted  to  only  about  $19,000,000. 
But  the  lie  had  served  its  purpose  in  calming  the  public  mind. 

On  June  26th  the  Times  had  published  a  story  that  the  Teu- 
tonic Allies  were  bankrupt,  that  Austria  could  pay  only  11%  of 
her  obligations,  while  Germany  might  be  able  to  pay  16%.  This 
was  done  also  to  bolster  up  the  waning  British  credit. 

But  this  was  not  sufficient.  It  was  to  be  impressed  upon  the 
unquiet  mind  of  the  American  people  that  England  was  anxious, 
nay  eager,  to  send  here  large  quantities  of  gold.  The  public  had 
to  be  reassured  in  order  that  the  Money  Trust  could  take  its 
money  from  the  public  banks  with  impunity.  So  again,  on 
August  13th,  the  Money  Trust  "  planted "  the  following  in  its 
organ,  the  Times: 

AN   INFAMOUS    STATEMENT 

"We  don't  want  gold,"  said  an  international  banker,  who  is 
taking  an  active  part  in  negotiations  with  financiers  in  London 
and  Paris.  "The  gold  is  of  no  use  to  us,  and  might  better  stay 
in  London.  The  banks  in  this  country  have  unprecedented  cash 
reserves,  which  are  not  doing  any  good.  What  is  needed  is  a 
credit  arrangement,  under  which  the  money  can  be  paid  out  on 
behalf  of  foreign  nations." 

The  subtle  infamy  of  this  statement  can  best  be  appreciated 
by  the  average  American  merchant  who  has  tried  to  obtain  credit 
from  the  Wall  Street  banks  within  the  last  twelve  months. 

Who  hides  in  the  underbrush,  clinking  the  coins  in  his  neigh- 
bor ?s  stolen  purse,  the  while  whispering:  "We  don't  want  gold. 
The  gold  is  of  no  use?" 

I  would  ask  this  anonymous  Wall  Street  banker  why  he  skulks 
in  hiding  when  he  sends  out  a  poisoned  whisper  intended  to  mis- 
lead the  public  mind  ?  I  would  ask  him  to  step  out  in  the  open 
and  reveal  himself.  For  you  see  I  know  this  man  who  hides 


WALL    STREET'S    BRITISH    GOLD    PLOT          43 

himself  behind  his  anonymity,  I  have  met  him,  and  I  know  why 
he  spoke  those  words. 

I  would  like  to  call  to  the  attention  of  this  anonymous  banker 
the  fact  that  eleven  great  mercantile  houses  went  under  in  New 
York  City  in  the  last  eighteen  months,  because  his  banks  refused 
them  credit.  I  would  tell  him  that  many  of  our  great  railroad 
systems  went  bankrupt  in  the  same  period  because  the  Money 
Trust  would  not  lend  them  money. 

I  would  ask  this  banker  why  he  is  so  eager  to  give  "foreign 
nations"  the  credit  which  he  refuses  to  the  American  merchant 
and  the  American  railroad  man  ? 

I  would  ask  this  same  banker,  Was  it  not  you  who  "inspired" 
the  following  lines  ? — ' '  The  amount  of  gold  that  it  is  proposed  to 
send  is  stated  by  some  correspondents  (from  London)  to  be  as 
high  as  $250,000,000.  Why,  under  circumstances. that  at  present 
exist,  this  stupendous  movement  of  the  precious  metal  should  be 
insisted  upon  in  London  is  incomprehensible  to  large  New  York; 
banks  and  bankers.  The  gold  is  neither  desired  nor  required  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic."  (Commercial  and  Financial  Chron- 
icle, August  28th.) 

The  bullion  in  the  Bank  of  England  last  week  was  only  about 
$335,000,000,  so  this  statement  of  the  financial  authority  of  Wall 
Street  that  the  English  wished  to  send  us  $250,000,000  is  pal- 
pably misleading.  However,  so  work  the  corrupt  Money  Trust 
bankers,  itching  for  the  gold  that  England  owes  them  and  cannot 
pay  them,  while  they  befool  their  own  countrymen  in  order  that 
they  may  seize  their  countrymen's  money  to  reimburse  them- 
selves. 

Let  us  learn  the  truth  of  this  thing.  We  shall  transpose  our- 
selves across  the  ocean  to  London  and  learn  whether  London 
"insists  on  sending  us  $250,000,000  gold  against  our  will." 

WE    MUST   KEEP   OUR   GOL/D 

Sir  George  Paish,  addressing  his  fellow-countrymen  in  the 
Statist,  says:  "No  country  can  purchase  more  than  its  income 
permits,  unless  it  is  able  to  borrow."  Again  he  says:  "We  are 
glad  to  see  that  steps  are  to  be  taken  to  mobilize  our  gold  re- 
serves." And  he  quotes  the  Prime  Minister  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  "It  is  highly  important  for  us  to  keep  and  to  increase 


44  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

our  supply  of  gold.  We  have  already  given  directions  that  all 
these  smaller  payments  which  are  made  to  those  in  our  employ, 
are  not  to  be  made  in  gold,  but  in  the  paper  currency. " 

We  read  nothing  here  of  London's  eagerness  to  send  us  gold. 
On  the  contrary,  just  before  the  departure  of  London's  financial 
agents  for  Wall  Street,  there  is  a  concerted  move  on  the  part  of 
London 's  financial  spokesmen  to  educate  the  Yankees  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  their  duty  to  extend  a  vast  credit  to  England  by  means 
of  the  money  stored  in  American  savings  banks.  They  say: 
"The  amount  we  may  need  to  borrow  in  the  United  States 
is  about  $500,000,000.  We  might  arrange  a  $400,000,000  or 
$500,000,000  issue  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and  if  necessary,  in 
other  American  cities.  A  good  deal  of  the  amount  we  ask  for 
must  be  what  Americans  call  savings  bank  investments." 

Do  you  see  the  plot  progressing  for  the  spoliation  of  the 
American  people  ?  There  is  first  the  over-extension  of  credit  by 
the  Wall  Street  munition  makers;  the  concealment  of  London's 
war  loan  fiasco;  the  Money  Trust's  realization  that  it  has  been 
selling  goods  to  bankrupt  countries ;  then  come  the  British  Chan- 
cellor's  instructions  to  the  Money  Trust  bankers;  swiftly  ensues 
the  secret  seizure  of  $500,000,000  of  the  public  money;  and  the 
Printed  Lie  is  used  to  delude  the  people  into  the  belief  that  Eng- 
land sends  us  great  stores  of  gold;  the  Hidden  Voice  of  the 
anonymous  banker  is  used  to  further  the  belief  that  we  do  not 
want  this  gold ;  then  comes  the  chorus  from  the  financial  wolves 
of  London  that  we  must  give  England  credit ;  now  come  the  finan- 
cial agents,  hands  extended,  asking  for  only  half  a  billion 
more. 

Is  it  not  the  highest  duty  of  every  banker  in  the  land  to  see 
that  these  financial  agents  are  sent  back  with  empty  hands  ? 

There  is  given  here  a  list  of  seven  Wall  Street  bankers,  who 
possess  great  power  and  exercise  wide  influence. 

We  see,  on  the  one  hand,  that  they  officiate  as  managing  di- 
rectors in  the  great  war  munitions  companies,  such  as  Bethlehem 
Steel  and  Distillers'  Securities  and  Lackawanna  Steel.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  head  large  banking  institutions,  which  handle 
public  money  and  sell  issues  of  securities  to  the  people.  Again, 
these  banking  institutions  they  control,  act  as  fiscal  agents  for 
the  war  munitions  concerns,  such  as  American  Can,  Crucible 
Steel  and  Railway  Steel  Spring. 


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46      WAR  PLOTTERS  OP  WALL  STREET 

WHAT   BANNAED   SAID 

The  list  is  headed  by  Mr.  Otto  T.  Bannard,  President  of  the 
New  York  Trust  Company.  Mr.  Bannard,  about  twelve  days  ago, 
was  responsible  for  something  that  must  have  been  deplored  by 
most  of  his  countrymen.  On  the  eve  of  leaving  London,  he  made 
a  public  statement,  saying :  * '  Great  Britain  will  be  able  easily  to 
float  a  loan  of  $500,000,000  in  this  country.  The  President,  to 
uphold  the  dignity  of  his  position,  must  take  drastic  steps.  If 
President  Wilson  says  war  we  will  all  be  with  him — the  whole 
American  people  would  be  behind  him." 

That  a  Wall  Street  banker,  who  takes  his  orders  from  the 
Money  Trust,  should  give  voice  to  such  expressions,  must  render 
him  an  object  of  suspicion  to  his  countrymen.  Why  -should  he  so 
readily  bestow  upon  England  $500,000,000  of  his  country's 
money  ?  And  why  should  he  so  light-heartedly  breathe  such  sen- 
timents of  war  ? 

Does  Mr.  Bannard  know  what  war  between  this  country  and 
Germany  would  mean?  Does  he  realize  that  fathers  would  be 
torn  from  their  families  and  sent  to  detention  camps,  that  sons 
would  fight  for  their  fathers,  tl^at  mobs  would  roam  the  streets, 
and  blood  would  be  shed  in  every  town  and  city  of  the  land  ? 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Bannard  ?s  fellow  bankers  do  not 
echo  his  sentiments.  They  are  prosperous  men.  Some  of  them 
earn  for  their  stockholders  sixty  per  cent,  dividends,  and  at 
Christmas  time  grateful  directors  present  them  with  $150,000 
bonuses.  In  view  of  what  their  country  does  for  them,  should 
they  not  show  their  countrymen  that  Wall  Street  bankers  in  re- 
turn are  ready  to  act  for  their  country 's  good  ? 

There  are  men  in  Wall  Street  far  more  powerful  than  these 
seven  bankers — the  members  of  the  Money  Trust,  who  are  plot- 
ting a  great  crime  against  the  people.  The  Money  Trust  has 
already  given  to  the  Allies  a  credit  of  $500,000,000.  It  now  pur- 
poses to  give  them  $500,000,000  to  $750,000,000  more. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  London  bankers,  Harold  Cox,  the 
political  economist,  said : ' '  The  war  will  not  end  without  England 
having  to  borrow  two  billion  pounds. ' ' 

Two  billion  pounds — that  is  ten  billion  dollars.  And  from 
whom  will  England  borrow  it  ?  There  is  only  one  lending  coun- 
try left. 


WALL    STREET'S    BRITISH    GOLD    PLOT  47 

Men  of  the  Money  Trust,  if  you  lend  these  agents  of  the  Allies 
one  billion  dollars,  you  may  have  to  lend  them  ten.  Then,  when 
they  default,  we  must  go  to  war  to  save  our  loans. 

Men  of  the  Money  Trust,  if  you  do  this  thing  you  will  sow 
the  wrath  that  reaps  the  whirlwind  that  may  sweep  you  from 
your  feet.  The  fate  of  men  who  defy  the  people  is  as  well  known 
as  is  human  history.  It  would  be  lamentable  if  ever  the  day 
should  come  when  the  people  would  descend  into  Wall  Street 
and  swarm  angrily  about  your  white  stone  and  marble  palaces. 

I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  all  the  sins  and  crimes  of 
men  are  expiated  here  on  earth.  Some  members  of  the  Money 
Trust  have  already  committed  crimes.  They  are  already  expi- 
ating them  in  the  horror  and  loathing  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 


V. 
OUR  BANKRUPT  "LADY  OF  THE  SNOWS" 

This  is  a  story  telling  how  the  cruel  British  satraps  of  Canada 
have  brought  ruin  and  misery  upon  a  once  fair  land.  With 
tempting  bonuses  and  honeyed  words,  they  lured  simple  and 
honest  men  from  distant  countries,  to  hew  their  woods  and  till 
the  soil. 

Suddenly  there  came  an  order  to  these  satraps  from  London 
financiers,  the  masters  of  .Canada.  And  terror  followed.  Fathers 
were  torn  from  wives  and  children  and  thrown  into  squalid 
prison  camps,  where  thousands  since  have  died.  Others  were 
forced  with  threats  to  go  abroad  again  and  fight  and  die  for  a 
foreign  king  whom  they  hated,  and  of  whom  others  had  not  even 
heard. 

History  has  on  its  records  no  blacker  crime  than  this.  Three 
men,  all  of  them  "Colonial  Knights/'  are  deeply  concerned  in 
these  affairs.  They  are  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Robert  Laird  Borden, 
Premier  of  Canada;  Sir  Thomas  Shaughnessy,  born  in  Milwau- 
kee, Wis.,  now  president  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  and 
"Major  General  Sir"  Sam  Hughes,  Minister  of  Militia  and  De- 
fense. 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  owns  Canada,  they  say.  It 
owns  the  Dominion's  greatest  railway  lines,  its  greatest  hotels,  its 
greatest  steamship  companies,  and  its  most  expensive  land  grants. 
It  is  owned  in  London.  Thus  London  financiers  own  Canada. 

The  concern  of  these  financiers  is  to  fill  the  land  with  people. 
They  wish  to  sell  farms  from  the  land  which  was  stolen  from  the 
Dominion.  They  wish  to  transport  the  products  of  farm  and 
forest  over  the  railway  that  they  own.  And  they  used  to  boast : 
"The  Nineteenth  Century  belonged  to  the  United  States.  The 
Twentieth  Century  will  belong  to  Canada. ' '  And  where  is  Can- 
ada to-day  ? 

Canada  has  a  population  of  6,200,000  people.  But  it  will  not 
grow.  For  years  agencies  in  Ireland  and  England  drained  those 

48 


OUR  BANKRUPT  "LADY  OF  THE  SNOWS"   49 

countries  of  stalwart  sons,  until  whole  villages  were  depopulated. 
But  Canada 's  sons  and  daughters  crossed  the  border  and  came  to 
live  with  us.  Like  Mr.- James  J.  Hill,  they  despise  the  patronage 
of  cheap  titles,  and  can  find  no  future  in  a  land  that  is  ruled  by 
foreign  plutocrats. 

The  decline  of  British  immigration  and  the  reluctance  of  im- 
migrants to  remain  in  the  country,  induced  the  London  financiers 
to  seek  other  fields  of  propaganda.  They  extended  one  of  their 
steamship  lines  to  Austria-Hungary  and  began  a  widespread  agi- 
tation in  Germany,  Austria  and  Hungary  to  obtain  farmers  and 
artisans  from  those  populous  lands.  They  offered  tempting  in- 
ducements, money  bonuses,  gifts  of  homesteads  to  be  paid  off  in 
installments,  and  even  free  passage. 

How  well  this  movement,  begun  in  1910,  succeeded,  may  be 
seen  at  a  glance  in  the  following  table : 

Immigration  to  Canada 

1910  1914         Increase 

Austro-Hungarians 9,757  28,321  18,564 

Germans 1,533  5,537  4,004 

DEPORT  THEIR   COUNTRYMEN 

But  what  was  the  calibre  of  these  immigrants  of  German  and 
Austro-Hungarian  origin,  as  compared  with  English  immigrants  ? 
Here  is  another  table  of  the  deepest  significance. 

Rejections  of  Immigrants     Deportations,  after 
by  Nationalities  having- been  admitted 

From  1902  to  1914  From  1902  to  1914 

Germans  260  113 

Austro-Hungarians 745  279 

British 1W  1,411  99*  5,310 

The  London  workman,  narrow-chested,  incapable,  and  unruly, 
was  rejected  and  deported  in  great  numbers,  for  the  English 
race  has  become  degenerate,  while  the  Teutonic  races  proved 
themselves  of  inestimable  value  to  Canada. 

When  Europe's  war  began,  there  was  in  Canada  a  hetero- 
geneous populace,  of  men  who  had  been  persuaded  to  come  to 
a  new  land  by  the  fair  promises  of  capitalists  who  hoped  to  profit 
from  their  labor.  These  people  did  not  dream  of  ever  returning 


50  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

to  Europe  to  fight  in  England's  war.  And  among  them  were 
Germans,  Austrians,  and  Hungarians  to  the  number  of  229,147. 

But  the  war  began,  and  there  came  a  call  to  Canada's  satrap, 
Borden,  from  his  London  masters:  "Intern  all  alien  enemies. 
Give  them  no  protection.  We  must  terrify  the  Germans." 

The  servile  satrap  paled  at  these  instructions,  but  obeyed 
them.  He  sat  aside  and  stayed  his  hand.  In  all  Canadian  towns 
and  countrysides,  from  British  Columbia  to  Quebec,  the  Canuck 
ran  riot  and  typified  himself  with  brutal  Cossack  deeds.  He 
burned  houses,  plundered  shops,  and  stoned  unoffending  men, 
women  and  children  in  city  streets  and  country  roads.  No  one 
deterred  him.  German,  Austrian  and  Hungarian  men  and 
women  were  dragged  from  their  homes  and  slaughtered  in  the 
open.  Native-born  sons  who  defended  foreign-born  parents  were 
slain,  the  daughters  were  brutalized  by  the  mob. 

Then  these  fathers  who  survived  were  dragged  to  desolate 
detention  camps,  old  sheds,  open  to  winter  winds  and  rains, 
flung  into  factory  ovens,  starved,  and  left  unclad.  The  mortality 
among  them  has  been  frightful.  The  permanent  illness  worse. 
One-third  of  these  men  can  never  work  for  themselves  again, — 
and  they  had  been  lured  into  this  country,  remember,  by  the  soft 
persuasions  of  the  men  who  had  done  them  these  wrongs.  And 
their  wives  and  children  in  rags  to-day  still  roam  the  streets  and 
byways  of  Canadian  cities,  butts  of  the  mocking  mob,  begging  in 
vain  for  food  and  shelter. 

It  is  very  painful  to  me  to  recapitulate  this  sad  story,  but 
the  reason  is  manifest.  These  dreadful  deeds  were  done  to  a 
QUARTER  OF  A  MILLION  TEUTONIC  PEOPLES  IN  CAN- 
ADA. If  war  should  come  to  us,  they  would  be  attempted  upon 
THIRTY  MILLIONS  OF  TEUTONIC  PEOPLES  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

For  that  is  what  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  wished  when  he  made 
himself  Britain's  war  agent.  That  is  what  his  associates  in  the 
Money  Trust  wished,  and  their  cringing  satellites  in  Wall  Street, 
who  feed  upon  their  crumbs.  That  is  what  the  war-mad  British 
bankers  in  Wall  Street  wished,  and  the  pro-British  writers  with 
their  poisoned  pens.  It  is  what  Otto  T.  Bannard,  of  the  New 
York  Trust  Company  wished  when  he  went  to  London  and  said 
that  the  " President  must  take  radical  steps";  it  was  what  James 
Gordon  Bennett  wished  when  he  cabled  from  his  home  in  Paris, 


OUR  BANKRUPT  "LADY  OF  THE  SNOWS"   51 

urging  mob  attacks  upon  men  of  German  blood ;  it  is  what  Adolph 
S.  Ochs  wishes,  when  he  incites  race  hatred  in  his  evil  sheet, 
ruled  by  the  Money  Trust. 

After  the  mob  and  massacre  in  Canada,  the  Canuck  stopped, 
breathless,  terrified  by  his  own  work.  Factories  had  been  ruined, 
farms  burned  down,  and  unemployment  began  to  raise  its  grisly 
head.  The  blow  was  beginning  to  recoil — upon  the  mob — upon 
the  capitalist. 

Shaughnessy,  the  ' '  American  Knight, ' '  crawled  cowering  into 
the  light  in  Winnipeg,  and  feebly  said :  ' '  The  most  vital  problem 
confronting  the  government  of  the  Dominion  to-day  is  the  immi- 
gration question/' 


And  Canada 's  Minister  of  the  Interior  said :  ' '  It  was  perhaps 
to  be  expected  that,  after  the  strong  light  in  which  Canada  has 
stood  during  the  past  few  years,  the  shadow  should  be  corre- 
spondingly dark." 

The  shadow  is  now  dark  indeed. 

The  blow  was  to  recoil  dreadfully  upon  the  heads  of  men 
who  had  done  evil  thoughtlessly,  incited  thereto  by  capitalist 
masters. 

The  dreadful  fact  was  driven  home  to  the  plutocrats  of  Eng- 
land that  English  workmen,  whom  they  had  ground  down  to 
pauperism,  would  absolutely  not  go  to  war  for  them.  They  con- 
ferred in  the  Order  in  Council,  and  sent  out  instructions  to  their 
satraps  in  many  lands:  "Drive  in  the  men  from  the  Colonies,  and 
make  them  fight." 

Borden,  Canada's  satrap,  trembled,  but  obeyed.  He  called 
in  a  simple  and  inexperienced  man,  Sam  Hughes,  Minister  of 
Militia,  and  gave  him  orders.  The  war  propaganda  began,  born 
of  English  falsehood  and  fear.  Canada  must  save  England.  The 
Germans  were  but  knaves  and  cowards.  They  had  been  defeated 
by  the  Belgians.  The  French  and  Russians  had  invaded  the 
German  country  and  crushed  the  foe.  It  would  be  an  easy  task. 
The  Canadians  could  march  into  a  defeated  country  trium- 
phantly, where  there  would  be  plunder  and  glory  galore. 

Fifty  thousand  young  men  of  Canada  were  sent  to  France 
and  Gallipoli.  Sam  Hughes  came  to  New  York  to  sail  after 
them.  And  in  the  simple  way  of  an  ignorant  countryman,  he 


OUR  BANKRUPT  ''LADY  OP  THE  SNOWS"   53 

boasted  on  the  pier:  "One  hundred  thousand  of  my  brave  boys 
can  conquer  Germany  alone. " 

Then  were  sent  away  50,000  more  young  men  of  Canada's 
best. 

Time  passed.  Then  came  the  dreadful  story  from  Flanders 
—not  through  the  press,  for  that  is  censored.  But  truth  must 
out  in  its  thousand  ways.  It  was  that  Canadians  had  gone  to 
face  brave  men  who  were  not  afraid  to  die.  And  the  Canadians, 
deserted  by  English  regiments,  retreated  from  the  field  of  battle, 
and  they  left  behind  them,  on  a  ridge,  2,000  Montreal  Highland- 
ers, who  were  unwilling  to  advance  and  unable  to  retreat.  Noth- 
ing has  ever  been  heard  from  them  again. 

When  the  fearful  news  came  to  Ottawa,  there  was  mourning 
and  weeping  throughout  the  Dominion.  Sam  Hughes  in  the 
meantime  had  returned.  White-faced  and  pallid-lipped  he  stut- 
tered: "They  were  heroes — that's  what  they  went  over  for." 

Hughes  later  slunk  back  to  England.  He  was  to  be  rewarded 
by  his  masters. 

But  the  order  from  London  had  been:  "Drive  in  the  men 
from  the  Colonies,  and  make  them  fight."  The  satrap,  Borden, 
must  obey.  He  called  in  his  henchman,  the  "American  Knight," 
Shaughnessy.  The  employers  must  be  mobilized.  Canada  was 
tired  of  the  war.  The  men  would  not  enlist.  But  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  owned  by  London  plutocrats,  must  save  them. 

On  August  1st,  this  note  was  placed  in  the  pay  envelopes  of 
employees  of  the  Canadian  Pacific:  "Your  King  and  country 
need  you;  we  don't."  Men,  young  enough  to  fight,  were  notified 
that  they  must  enlist  or  quit  their  jobs.  This  was  done  in  all 
companies  owned  by  the  railway,  its  hotels,  its  factories.  It  was 
done  in  the  departments  of  the  Dominion,  and  it  was  compelled 
to  be  done  by  all  tlie  large  employers  of  labor  in  the  cities. 

The  plutocrats  were  forcing  men  to  war.  Irishmen,  who  hated 
England,  must  fight  for  her,  or  starve.  In  Montreal,  a  mob  of 
5,000  unmarried  men  who  had  been  discharged  by  their  employ- 
ers for  failing  to  enlist,  held  a  meeting  at  which  they  denounced 
the  newspapers  advocating  compulsory  service,  and  they  attacked 
newspaper  offices,  breaking  their  windows.  Several  days  later,  a 
soldier,  bearing  a  recruiting  placard,  was  mobbed  in  the  Champ 
de  Mars.  Soldiers  attacked  the  mob  and  arrested  its  leaders. 

The  Canucks  were  now  turning  on  their  masters.    An  ugly 


54  WAR    PLOTTERS    OP    WALL    STREET 

story  had  come  back  to  Canada.  It  was  the  order  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Taylor,  Adjutant  of  the  Fourth  Division  of  the  Third 
Canadian  Infantry  Brigade.  ' '  During  the  last  battle,  several  of 
the  division  surrendered  to  the  enemy.  It  is  the  first  and  most 
urgent  duty  to  shoot  down  every  man  that  tries  to  surrender,  no 
matter  who  it  may  be.  If  the  group  is  large  enough  to  give 
promise  of  success,  artillery  fire  must  at  once  be  turned  in  that 
direction. ' ' 

And  Canadian  newspapers  were  printing  their  "must" 
stories,  "All  Are  Heroes  In  Princess  Pat's  Regiment/'  and 
speaking  of  "courage"  and  "fortitude"  and  the  "spirit  of  de- 
termination that  must  win. ' ' 

And  they  are  printing  the  same  stories  in  Canada  to-day,  for 
the  censorship  is  stricter  there  than  in  England. 

But  now  the  Canadian  people  "know." 

They  know  the  cost.    The  cost  has  ruined  them. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  have  been  sent  abroad 
by  Canada.  Few  of  them  will  ever  return. 

A  year  ago,  in  the  first  flush  of  the  war  fever,  artificially 
stimulated  by  the  corrupt  English  press,  the  Dominion  boastfully 
granted  the  highest  pay  ever  given  to  soldiers,  $1.10  per  day. 
Widows  and  orphans  were  liberally  provided  for — $22  a  month 
for  the  widow,  and  $5  a  month  for  each  child.  Annual  pensions 
for  wounded  or  disabled  ran  from  $264  to  $100  for  the  rank  and 
file,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  disability.  So  whether  death 
came  to  the  soldier,  or  he  were  disabled,  or  left  widow  or  orphans, 
the  $1.10  practically  went  on  for  perpetuity. 

THE   RUINOUS    CHARGE 

This  was  thoughtlessly  done.  It  was  kindly  meant.  But  it 
spells  ruin  to  Canada.  It  is  an  annual  charge  of  $60,225,000. 
And  this  military  burden  upon  the  backs  of  6,000,000  people ! 

Before  the  war  began,  Canada  had  a  national  debt  of  $544,- 
391,000,  and  annual  interest  and  other  charges  of  $15,000,000. 
When  the  war  began,  the  Dominion  expended  $20,000,000  in  the 
initial  equipment  of  her  men.  She  made  advances  to  finance 
purchases  made  in  Canada  by  British,  French,  Russian  and 
New  Zealand  and  South  African  governments,  of  $25,000,000. 

When  Borden  interned  the  Teutonic  farmers,  who  had,  by 


OUR  BANKRUPT  "LADY  OP  THE  SNOWS"   55 

their  labor,  enriched  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  a  catastrophe 
happened  to  the  London  plutocrats  and  to  the  entire  Dominion. 
The  gross  earnings  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  in  1914 
amounted  to  $129,814,000.  In  the  statement  issued  for  1915, 
these  earnings  had  shrunk  to  $97,500,000,  'a  loss  of  $32,300,000. 
Operating  expenses  were  at  once  cut  by  the  frightened  capitalists. 
They  cut  them  $22,588,000,  which  sum  had  previously  been  paid 
out  in  wages  and  expenses.  The  surplus  of  the  great  railway  has 
shrunk  by  $9,600,000. 

But  worse  was  to  come  to  Canada's  railways.  Despite  the 
warnings  of  men  who  knew,  the  Canadian  government  largely 
took  over  the  charges  and  responsibilities  of  two  of  her  lines,  the 
Grand  Trunk  Pacific  and  the  Canadian  Northern  railroads.  She 
guaranteed  the  securities  of  both.  They  are  not  now  earning 
their  fixed  charges.  "The  government  must  step  in  to  avoid 
disaster/'  says  Finance  Minister  White.  Canada  must  now  take 
over  the  two  lines  to  prevent  their  bankruptcy. 

Bankruptcy  has  overtaken  the  timber  and  lumber  industries 
of  British  Columbia.  The  great  real  estate  boom  that  prevailed 
for  years  has  collapsed.  Canada  has  borrowed  capital  for  muni- 
cipal and  industrial  enterprises  to  such  an  extent  that  the  annual 
tax  in  interest  alone  is  about  $140,000,000.  Towns  are  now 
obliged  to  ask  for  time  to  meet  the  interest  due  on  their  bonds. 
Cities  are  threatened  with  bankruptcy.  A  receivership  is  an- 
nounced in  contemplation  for  the  City  of  Montreal,  the  bonds  of 
which  are  held  by  many  banks  in  the  United  States.  A  com- 
mittee has  been  formed  to  consult  with  the  distracted  satrap, 
Borden,  to  devise  some  means  for  meeting  the  obligations  of  the 
city. 

But  the  London  plutocrats  who  own  Canada  have  no  mercy. 
They  tried  to  stem  the  tide  of  the  fall  in  demand  sterling  in  New 
York,  which  is  costing  untold  millions  to  English  capital.  They 
could  not  send  gold  from  the  imperilled  gold  reserve  of  the  Bank 
of  England,  so  they  ordered  their  satraps  to  strip  Canada  of  her 
gold  and  send  it  to  New  York.  And  the  Dominion,  staggering 
under  her  financial  burdens,  which  she  is  no  longer  able  to  bear, 
sent  the  gold  to  New  York  at  the  behest  of  her  masters,  more 
than  $100,000,000. 

These  matters  are  mostly  kept  from  the  newspapers.  New 
censorship  regulations  have  been  enforced  in  Canada.  The  pub- 


56  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

lication  of  military,  naval  or  financial  information  is  prohibited, 
as  well  as  criticism  of  the  British  government  or  her  Allies. 
For  violations,  the  offending  papers  may  be  seized  and  sup- 
pressed. 

But  so  many  facts  can  no  longer  be  concealed.  Canada  has 
refused  any  longer  to  give  credit  to  her  master's  ally,  Russia, 
for  Russia,  also,  is  bankrupt.  ' '  We  simply  cannot  do  it, ' '  said  a 
Canadian  banker  months  ago.  "Even  if  the  government  did 
help  by  issuing  Dominion  notes  and  thereby  inflating  bank  circu- 
lation, with  the  evils  attendant,  banks  cannot  wisely  tie  up 
Canadian  money  in  Russian  securities/' 

Since  this  man  spoke,  the  evil  he  feared  has  conn*  over  Can- 
ada, and  not  through  the  financing  of  Russian  orders.  The 
Canadian  government  has  issued  Dominion  notes  to  an  unprece- 
dented extent,  to  an  extent,  indeed,  that  has  ruined  her  credit 
and  resources — inflation  by  the  reckless  issue  of  paper  currency, 
the  stupid  subterfuge  that  always  ruins  governments,  such  as 
Russia  under  Catherine  the  Great.  The  London  market,  which 
in  past  times  jealously  supplied  all  Canada's  wants,  is  now  closed 
to  her.  The  Englishmen  who  ruled  Canada  are  now  ruined 
themselves,  and  come  to  us  begging  for  alms.  And  now  Canada 
has  come  to  us.  Morgan,  Britain's  agent,  was  instructed  by  his 
British  employers  to  lend  to  Canada,  and  he  obeyed  in  his  char- 
acteristic way.  He  could  not  refuse,  much  as  he  might  wish  to 
do  so,  for  Canada's  gold  had  been  siphoned  into  his  vaults. 
Morgan  lent  Canada  the  money  of  the  American  people  by  forc- 
ing American  banks  to  participate  in  Canadian  loans. 

OUR   FORCED   LOANS    TO   CANADA 

From  last  December,  until  the  end  of  May,  American  banks, 
at  the  order  of  the  Money  Trust,  a  member  of  which  is  the  local 
agency  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal  in  Wall  Street,  took  over  Cana- 
dian securities  valued  at  $85,900,000.  That  value  has  since 
shrunk  terribly.  But  since  then,  other  loans  have  come  in  swift 
succession,  such  as  $11,500,000  of  Canadian  Railway  notes,  issued 
by  a  railway  that  Finance  Minister  White  cf  Canada  says  "is 
facing  disaster."  Our  Rock  Island,  and  Missouri  Pacific,  and 
other  great  American  lines,  remember,  could  not  obtain  loans 
from  the  pro-British  bankers  in  Wall  Street  to  '  *  save  them  from 


OUJi  BANKRUPT  "LADY  OP  THE  SNOWS"  57 

disaster.''  But  Wall  Street  is  now  British  soil,  dominated  by 
Money  Trust  plutocrats,  who  make  larger  profits  by  lending  the 
American  people's  money  to  the  English  than  they  could  by 
lending  it  to  the  American  merchant  or  railroad  man.  Finally 
Morgan  forced  Wall  Street  to  take  a  $45,000,000  Canadian  gov- 
ernment Kan. 

Canada  has  placed  these  loans  with  the  Money  Trust  at 
ruinous  rates  of  interest,  as  all  bankrupts  must  do.  For  this  is 
the  only  market  in  the  world  in  which  she  can  borrow,  and  we 
have  taken  80  per  cent,  of  her  securities.  Canada  has  now 
obligated  herself  to  annual  charges  of  more  than  $250,000,000. 
She  has  borrowed  from  us  more  than  $150,000,000  in  seven 
months.  She  has  contracted  debts  since  the  war  began  of  $527,- 
525,000.  She  had  a  national  debt  before  the  war  began  of 
$544,300,000.  Canada  now  owes  more  than  $1,100,000,000. 

And  all  this  debt  is  laid  upon  the  backs  of  6,000,000  bankrupt 
people.  Every  adult  male  in  Canada  owes  on  behalf  of  his 
town,  his  province  or  his  county  more  than  $1,000.  Much  of  this 
sum  represents  an  annual  tax.  None  of  it  includes  his  private 
debts.  And  Canada's  factories  are  closed,  her  great  industries 
ruined,  her  cities  filled  with  unemployed  and  bitter  men. 

All  the  satrapies  of  Great  Britain  have  been  brought  to  a 
similar  pass  through  the  German  submarine  warfare.  The 
Indian  government  announces  that  its  budget  will  create  a  deficit 
of  $15,000,000.  England  cannot  help.  Australia,  instead  of 
exporting,  is  importing  12,000,000  bushels  of  wheat.  The 
Colonial  governments  have  sent  frantic  pleas  to  Whitehall  for 
ships  to  transport  their  frozen  meats.  New  Zealand  is  prostrate. 
All  through  the  United  Kingdom  the  butcher  shops  are  closing; 
prices  of  foodstuffs  have  doubled,  and  this  has  caused  strikes 
among  industrial  workers  that  cannot  be  adjusted. 

And  still  the  hysterical  asseverations  come  from  England's 
public  men  :  "The  German  submarine  warfare  has  failed." 

We  have  taken  a  mortgage  on  Canada.  She  cannot  pay  us. 
Shall  we  foreclose  that  mortgage? 

The  satrap,  Borden,  went  to  England  for  six  weeks  to  discuss 
this  crisis  with  his  masters.  The  other  day  he  returned,  bringing 
with  him  his  poor  henchman,  Sam  Hughes,  Minister  of  Militia. 
These  two  pitiful  figures  slunk  to  an  obscure  hotel  in  New  York. 
With  lined  faces,  and  downcast  spirits,  they  still  spoke  of 


58  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

"heroes"  and  "courage"  and  "fortitude"  and  the  "spirit  of 
determination  that  must  win." 

This  pair  had  sent  to  death  and  disaster  more  than  100,000 
of  their  countrymen  at  the  behest  of  cruel  masters.  They  had 
heaped  upon  their  country  a  new  and  crushing  debt  of  more  than 
half  a  billion.  They  put  an  end  to  immigration. 

But  the  Minister  of  Militia  had  at  last  received  his  "reward." 

No  longer  plain  "Sam"  Hughes.  Say  now,  Major  General, 
Sir  Sam  Hughes. 

A  commission  and  a  knighthood ! 

May  these  cheap  favors  bring  him  joy ! 


VI. 

THE    CRIME    OF   THE    YEAR   1915 

In  an  inclosed  garden  just  east  of  Madison  Avenue,  in  Thirty- 
sixth  Street,  rises  a  marble  building  in  the  museum  style.  It 
was  built  by  the  Elder  Morgan  as  a  storehouse  for  his  works  of 
art.  It  is  known  as  the  Morgan  Library.  It  has  been  the  scene 
of  strange  events. 

It  was  here  that  Morgan,  in  the  panic  of  1907,  loaned  to  the 
banks  of  Wall  Street  the  millions  he  obtained  from  the  United 
States  Treasury,  making  great  profits  for  himself  on  the  bor- 
rowed money  of  the  people.  It  was  here  that  late  one  night  a 
whispered  word  went  forth,  that  struck  the  next  day  like  a  thun- 
derbolt and  caused  the  tragic  run  on  the  Trust  Company  of 
America,  which  bled  a  $60,000,000  institution  dry. 

The  Morgan  Library  is  now  ownecl  by  Morgan's  son,  the 
agent  of  a  foreign  government. 

On  the  night  of  September  llth,  1915,  a  street  crowd  had 
run  together  at  this  corner  of  Murray  Hill.  These  people 
watched  the  lighted  front  of  the  marble  building  with  uneasy 
faces.  With  the  dumb  instinct  of  the  mot),  they  had  scented  the 
fact  that  there  was  being  staged  here  an  event  that  threatened  a 
terrible  danger  to  the  future  of  their  country. 

At  intervals  vehicles  rolled  up,  the  iron  gates  swung  back, 
and  a  dull  murmur  rose  from  the  street  throng  as  it  recognized 
some  familiar  personage  who  had  alighted. 

But  let  us  not  mix  with  the  rabble.  Let  us  penetrate  the 
marble  portal  and  see  the  parts  that  our  masters,  the  plutocrats, 
are  playing.  They  are  giving  an  ovation  to  titled  personages. 
And  monstrous  as  it  may  seem,  one  finds  among  the  latter  Amer- 
icans, who  have  renounced  republican  principles,  -accepted 
foreign  "  knighthoods/ '  and  sworn  allegiance  to  a  foreign  king. 

Here,  in  the  spacious  apartment,  we  see  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
the  accredited  agent  of  England,  France  and  Russia  for  the 
purchase  and  manufacture  of  war  munitions.  Beside  him  is  his 
partner,  Henry  P.  Davison,  just  returned  from  London,  where 

59 


60      WAR  PLOTTERS  OF  WALL  STREET 

he  has  been  conferring  in  secret  with  the  heads  of  the  British 
government. 

With  that  species  of  adulation  that  is  deserving  only  to  the 
aristocracy,  they  bid  welcome  to*  Sir  Robert  Borden,  Premier  of 
Canada,  who  has  won  the  gratitude  of  the  British  government 
by  herding  in  detention  camps  the  Teutonic  farmers  of  Canada. 
Then  comes  Thomas,  Lloyd  George's  representative  in  the 
* '  States ' '  in  the  supervision  of  American  industries  in  the  inter- 
est of  England,  soon  to  be  knighted  as  a  reward. 

The  next  arrival  is  "Sir"  Thomas  Shaughnessy,  President 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  once  an  American,  born  in 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  now  a  Colonial  Knight.  And  we  see  Americans 
bowing  and  scraping  before  this  man  who  has  spurned  his 
American  citizenship. 

Now  comes  a  murmur  of  awe  and  reverence  from  the  Wall 
Street  bankers  assembled  here.  The  lions  of  the  evening  have 
arrived — the  foreign  bankers  sent  here  by  bankrupt  Britain  to 
get  the  use  of  the  American  people's  gold  that  Morgan,  their 
agent,  has  promised  them :  Baron  Reading,  once  plain  Rufus 
Isaacs;  Sir  Edward  Hopkinson  Holden,  Sir  Henry  Babbington 
Smith  and  Basil  B.  Blackett.  They  have  in  their  train  two 
French  bankers,  to  whom  they  have  promised  the  Yankees' 
money,  if  France  will  continue  to  fight  England's  battles. 

An  hour  passes  now  in  Morgan's  Library.  There  is  a  low 
hum  of  voices,  of  pledges  made  on  foreign  soil,  now  renewed  and 
substantiated  in  the  home  of  Britain 's  agent. 

What  is  being  concocted  here  in  secret  by  private  bankers  ? 

Our  country  is  being  committed,  its  safety,  its  fortune,  its 
wealth,  its  future — and  yet  we,  the  people,  have  nothing  to  say. 
We  have  voiced  protests.  They  have  been  ignored.  We  have 
made  pleas.  They  have  been  met  with  cynical  laughter.  Our 
destinies  are  in  the  hands  of  plutocratic  masters. 

But  the  deed  is  done.  The  hour  has  passed.  One  hears  from 
the  outer  court  that  the  iron  gates  are  swinging  back  again. 
There  is  the  roll  of  wheels.  Another  chain  of  vehicles  is  arriving. 
They  are  bringing  other  guests.  Who  are  these  ? 

WHO    COMES    NOW? 

These  are  men  whose  smallest  actions  concern  us  deeply,  since 
they  involve  the  safety  and  happiness  of  all  we  hold  most  dear. 


THE    CRIME    OF    THE    YEAR    1915  61 

They  are  the  heads  of  our  largest  savings  banks,  in  which  are 
stored  the  results  of  our  labor ;  they  are  the  presidents  and  man- 
agers of  great  life  insurance  companies,  in  which  our  existence  is 
pledged;  they  are  the  officials  of  fire  insurance  companies,  of 
powerful  banks  with  which  we  do  business. 

I  shall  name  them,  but  only  as  their  names  have  been  made 
known.  And  that  we  may  know  them  better,  I  shall  prefix  their 
names  with  the  institutions  they  represent,  in  which  are  deposited 
the  money  of  the  people. 


Savings  Banks: 

Albany  Savings  Institution,  Director,  Charles  H.  Sabin ;  Bow- 
ery Savings  Bank,  Second  Vice-President,  William  A.  Nash; 
Bank  for  Savings,  Trustees,  August  Belmont  and  Robert  Bacon ; 
Greenwich  Savings  Bank,  Trustee,  Albert  H.  WiggnTpUnion 
Dime  Savings  Bank,  Trustee,  John  R.  Hegeman. 

Insurance  Companies: 

Atlantic  Mutual  Insurance  Co.,  Trustee,  Charles  A.  Peabody ; 
City  of  X.  Y.  Insurance  Co.,  Director,  Albert  H.  Wiggin ;  Fidel- 
ity-Phenix  Fire  Ins.  Co.,  Directors,  Francis  L.  Hine,  Charles 
H.  Sabin  and  Albert  H.  Wiggin;  Fidelity  &  Casualty  Co.,  Di- 
rector, Alex.  J.  Hemphill;  German- American  Insurance  Co., 
Director,  Samuel  McRoberts;  Home  Insurance  Co.,  Director, 
Lewis  L.  Clark ;  Home  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Directors,  William 
A.  Xash  and  Francis  L.  Hine ;  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Trus- 
tees, George  F.  Baker  and  Charles  A.  Peabody,  President ;  Metro- 
politan Life  Insurance  Co.,  President,  John  R.  Hegeman;  Trus- 
tees, Otto  T.  Bannard  and  Albert  H.  Wiggin ;  N.  Y.  Title 
Insurance  Co.,  Director,  Lewis  L.  Clark;  Pennsylvania  Fire 
Insurance  Co.,  Edward  T.  Stotesbury;  Penn  Mutual  Life  In- 
surance Co.,  'Trustee,  Edward  T.  Stotesbury ;  Prudential  In- 
surance Co.,  President,  Forrest  F.  Dryden;  Queen  Insurance 
Co.,  Director,  William  A.  Nash;  Royal  Insurance  Co.,  William 
A.  Nash;  United  States  Casualty  Company,  Director,  Forrest 
F.  Dryden. 


62  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 


Banks: 

American  Exchange  National  Bank,  President,  Lewis  L. 
Clark;  Chase  National  Bank,  President,  Albert  H.  Wiggin; 
Director,  Francis  L.  Hine;  Chatham  &  Phenix  National  Bank, 
August  Belmont;  First  National  Bank,  President,  Francis  L. 
Hine ;  Liberty  National  Bank,  Directors,  Albert  H.  Wiggin  and 
Francis  L.  Hine;  Metropolitan  Bank,  Director,  John  R.  Hege- 
man;  National  City  Bank,  Vice-President,  Samuel  McRoberts; 
President,  Frank  A.  Vanderlip;  National  Bank  of  Commerce, 
Directors,  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  Alvin  W.  Krech,  Francis  L. 
Hine,  Charles  A.  Peabody  and  Albert  H.  Wiggin ;  Riggs  National 
Bank,  Director,  Frank  A.  Vanderlip ;  Union  Exchange  National 
Bank,  Directors,  Albert  H.  Wiggin  and  Charles  H.  Sabin. 

Trust  Companies: 

Astor  Trust  Company,  Directors,  Francis  L.  Hine,  Albert  H. 
Wiggin,  Charles  A.  Peabody  and  George  F.  Baker;  Bankers' 
Trust  Company,  Directors,  Francis  L.  Hine  and  Albert  H.  Wig- 
gin;  Brooklyn  Trust  Company,  Trustee,  Francis  L.  Hine;  Farm- 
ers' Loan  &  Trust  Co.,  Directors,  Charles  A.  Peabody,  Frank  A. 
Vanderlip  and  George  F.  Baker;  Fidelity  Trust  Company, 
Edward  T.  Stotesbury;  Girard  Trust  Company,  Edward  T. 
Stotesbury;  Guaranty  Trust  Company,  President,  Charles  H. 
Sabin ;  Chairman,  Alex.  J.  Hemphill ;  Directors,  Albert  H.  Wig- 
gin,  Charles  A.  Peabody  and  George  F.  Baker ;  Hamilton  Trust 
Company,  Trustee,  John  R.  Hegeman;  New  York  Trust  Com- 
pany, President,  Otto  T.  Bannard ;  Title  Guarantee  &  Trust  Co., 
William  A.  Nash  and  Charles  A.  Peabody;  United  States  Trust 
Company,  Lewis  Cass  Ledyard. 

Surety  Companies: 

American  Surety  Company,  Trustees,  Alex.  J.  Hemphill, 
William  A.  Nash,  Francis  L.  Hine  and  Albert  H.  Wiggin ;  Amer- 
ican Security  &  Trust  Co.,  Frank  A.  Vanderlip ;  First  Security 
Company,  President,  George  F.  Baker;  National  Surety  Com- 
pany, Directors,  Samuel  McRoberts,  Alvin  W.  Krech  and  John 
R,  Hegeman. 


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64  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE    UNEASY 

It  is  a  matter  of  distinct  uneasiness  to  the  American  people 
that  the  heads  and  trustees  and  managing  directors  of  the  great 
institutions  in  which  their  fortunes  are  bound  up,  should  in  these 
days  and  on  a  mission  such  as  this,  visit  the  private  house  of  the 
agent  of  a  foreign  government,  to  confer  i£hsecret  with  emissaries 
sent  by  that  government  to  this  "country  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  a  huge  credit,  based  "on  the  moneys  lying  in  savings 
banks,  insurance  companies  and  banks  of  deposit  representing 
the  property  of  the  American  people. 

It  instils  fear  in  the  public  mind  when  such  men  associate 
themselves  with  the  House  of  Morgan,  whose  fortunes  are  com- 
mitted to  foreign  lands  and  foreign  interests. 

This  fear  of  the  public  is  not  the  fear  which,  in  1913,  caused 
the  appointment  of  the  Pujo  Committee  to  investigate  the  con- 
centration of  control  of  money  and  credit.  It  is  now  become  a 
fear  more  keen  and  poignant  than  before.  It  has  caused  a 
sudden  growth  of  radicalism  in  this  country,  which  is  assuming 
proportions  that  are  alarming. 

For  Morgan  is  serving  a  foreign  king;  he  cannot  serve  two 
masters. 

Under  his  guidance,  committed  as  he  is,  American  interests 
must  suffer.  Is  it  not  then  a  matter  of  dreadful  peril  that  at 
Morgan's  beck  and  call,  the  financiers,  controlling  our  greatest 
institutions,  should  lend  him  their  vast  influence  and  proffer  him 
the  funds  which  have  been  entrusted  to  them  by  the  people? 

Was  it  not  thought  that  by  the  abolition  of  the  interlocking 
directorates  the  Morgan  group  would  be  shorn  of  their  illegal 
power  ?  Yet  here  we  see  that  they  still  exercise  their  malignant 
influence. 

I  shall  quote  from  the  conclusions  of  the  Pujo  Committee, 
after  its  investigation  of  the  Money  Trust:  "It  accordingly 
behooves  us  to  see  to  it  that  the  bankers  who  require  and  are 
bidding  for  the  money  held  by  our  banks,  trust  companies  and 
life  insurance  companies  to  use  in  their  ventures  are  not  per- 
mitted to  control  and  utilize  these  funds  as  though  they  were 
their  own. 

"At  best  it  is  a  dangerous  situation,  with  its  boundless 
temptations  and  opportunities,  no  matter  how  high  or  lofty 


THE    CRIME    OF    THE    YEAR    1915  65 

may  be  the  sense  of  responsibility  of  those  who  hold  the  power. 
It  is  too  vast  and  perilous  a  power  to  be  safely  intrusted  to  the 
hands  of  any  man  or  set  of  men,  be  he  or  they  ever  so  patriotic 
or  unselfish.  We  have  no  right  to  assume  that  he  or  they  or  their 
successors  will  never  use  it  in  his  or  their  own  interest  and  to 
the  detriment  of  the  public  welfare." 

We  see  that  the  day  has  now  come  when  these  successors  are 
using  this  power  in  their  own  interest  and  to  the  detriment  of 
the  public  welfare.  These  foreign  agents  are  working  in  secret. 
They  tell  us  insolently  that  they  are  working  for  our  country's 
good.  Can  we  believe  them?  No,  we  cannot  take  the  word  of 
Morgan  &  Co.,  who  have  earned  the  distrust  and  condemnation 
of  their  fellow  countrymen  in  the  management  of  the  New  Haven 
and  Erie  Railroads  and  the  perpetration  of  the  Cincinnati,  Ham- 
ilton &  Dayton  scandal. 

I  urge  upon  all  the  readers  of  THE  FATHERLAND  to  write  to 
their  Congressmen,  demanding  a  Federal  investigation  into  the 
recent  acts  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  on  behalf  of  their  client,  Eng- 
land. Congress  must  drag  these  secret  financial  transactions — 
which  affect  our  most  vital  interests — into  the  open  light  of  day. 

But  we  must  go  farther.  We  must  safeguard  our  personal 
interest  from  the  thieving  fingers  of  the  Money  Trust. 

In  the  insurance  investigation  of  some  few  years  ago,  it  was 
vividly  impressed  upon  the  managers  of  such  companies  that 
they  must  not  act  without  the  authority  of  their  policyholders. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  have  not  forgotten  this  wise  counsel. 

Let  every  man  or  woman  who  is  a  policyholder  in  any  of  the 
companies  above  enumerated;  write  at  once  to  the  responsible 
heads  of  such  companies,  asking  ivhether  their  funds  are  being 
used  to  finance  the  war  munitions  of  foreign  countries. 

Let  every  depositor  in  the  savings  banks  in  the  above  list 
address  a  similar  request  to  his  official  representatives. 

Let  every  depositor  in  the  above  banks  and  trust  companies 
take  similar  action. 

A  PATRIOTIC   DUTY 

Citizens,  this  is  your  patriotic  duty.  It  is  your  right.  The 
banking  power  exists  only  in  the  money  of  the  people.  The 
people  have  the  right  under  the  law  to  demand  that  such  power 
be  not  misused. 


66  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Protest  against  this  commission  of  an  unneutral  act !  Protest 
against  the  illegal  use  of  the  American  people's  savings  for  the 
furtherance  of  a  war  on  behalf  of  Russian  Cossacks.  Protest 
against  the  use  of  our  money  for  the  arming  of  African  and 
Asiatic  savages  by  their  decadent  French  and  English  masters, 
who  wage  war  by  bringing  blacks  into  a  white  man 's  country. 

We,  in  the  East,  are  doing  our  share.  Do  you,  in  the  West, 
do  yours?  And  it  is  with  deep  gratification  that  we  see  the 
sturdy  West  responding.  We  are  Americans  still — not  the  helots 
of  pro-British  plutocrats. 

The  action  of  Dr.  Charles  Hexamer,  of  Philadelphia,  head  of 
the  National  German- American  Alliance,  in  his  open  protest, 
urging  citizens  to  thwart  the  loan,  has  brought  dismay  to  the 
English  bankers  of  Wall  Street. 

Mr.  Jeremiah  O'Leary,  President  of  the  American  Truth 
Society,  has  demanded  of  Baron  Reading,  the  head  of  the  foreign 
banking  delegation,  what  assurance  American  investors  would 
have,  when  the  Anglo-French  notes  fall  due,  that  Great  Britain 
will  not  tender  Confederate  bonds  in  payments. 

Our  logic  is  unanswerable. 

For  an  entire  year,  the  Morgan  group  have  been  our  pluto- 
cratic rulers.  They  have  had  their  own  way.  Now  is  coming 
the  reaction.  The  public  has  awakened  to  its  peril.  This  morn- 
ing was  announced  the  resignation  of  one  of  the  Morgan  partners, 
Mr.  Willard  Straight. 

The  panic  of  fear  and  rage  reigns  in  the  Morgan  camp.  On 
September  15th,  through  one  of  their  organs,  they  issued  a 
WARNING  to  those  who  opposed  them.  They  applied  an  epithet 
to  those  who  worked  against  the  loan  to  their  foreign  clients,  and 
their  warning  ended  in  these  words: 

THE   THREAT   OF   REPRISAL 

"The  potentialities  of  retaliation  are  not  the  exclusive  pos- 
session of  any  body  or  organization  in  the  United  States.  This 
fact  is  not  without  a  definite  present  significance.  The  weapons 
that  hyphenated  Americans  are  now  urged  to  raise  against  their 
neighbors  are  not  the  subject  of  monopoly,  and  it  would  be 
lamentable  in  the  last  degree  if  patience  and  forbearan.ce  should 
take  the  form  of  reprisal," 


THE    CRIME    OF    THE    YEAR    1915  67 

The  following  day  they  sent  a  man  to  James  J.  Hill  to  enlist 
his  support,  with  the  suggestion  that  "reprisals  be  tried  upon 
pro-German  interests  by  withholding  American  money. " 

Mr.  Hill  shook  his  head.  "That  gun  would  kick  harder  than 
it  would  shoot,"  he  said. 

When  the  man  was  sent  to  Mr.  Hill  in  the  endeavor  to  foment 
discord  and  stifle  opposition  to  the  Morgan  loan,  he  was  not  sent 
aright. 

Again  the  same  organ  came  out  with  a  threat  from  the 
Morgan  group.  Sections  were  quoted  from  the  Penal  Law  of 
New  York  State,  in  the  false  efforts  to  intimidate  opponents  to 
the  Morgan  loan. 

To  this  THE  FATHERLAND  must  respond  by  the  following 
quotation  from  Section  5281  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the 
United  States: 

THE   LAW   IN   THE    CASE 

"Section  5281.    Accepting  a  foreign  commission. 

1 '  Every  citizen  of  the  United  States  who,  within  the  territory 
or  jurisdiction  thereof,  accepts  and  exercises  a  commission  to 
serve  a  foreign  Prince,  State,  colony,  or  people,  in  war,  by  land 
or  by  sea,  against  any  Prince,  State,  colony,  district  or  people 
with  whom  the  United  States  are  at  peace,  shall  be  deemed  guilty 
of  a  high  misdemeanor  and  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  $2,000 
and  imprisoned  not  more  than  three  years. " 

Let  the  partners  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  ponder  this.  Does  it 
apply  to  them  ? 

As  yet  the  Republic  exists.  As  yet  the  plutocrats  have  not 
exercised  the  power  to  crush  free  speech  and  freedom  of  opinion. 

Since  that  memorable  meeting  in  the  Morgan  Library,  many 
other  gatherings  have  been  held  by  Wall  Street  bankers  with  the 
financial  emissaries  from  England.  But  the  subsequent  meetings 
have  always  been  held  in  different  places,  and  in  secret.  We  see 
them  meet  at  the  Hotel  Biltmore  at  midnight.  Why?  We  learn 
that  these  Wall  Street  bankers  leave  their  institutions  and 
secretly  board  Morgan's  yacht,  the  Corsair,  in  the  East  River,  to 
hold  their  conferences  for  the  disposition  of  the  public's  funds. 

Why  do  these  men  work  in  fear  and  secret? 

How  do  they  purpose  to  work  in  the  dark  after  time,  when  a 
crime  against  their  own  countrymen  has  been  committed  ? 


VII. 
THE    SHAM    PEACE    SOCIETIES 

I  was  walking  on  Seventh  Ave.,  New  York,  one  "Winter's 
night,  some  four  short  years  ago — it  was  in  December,  1911,  if 
memory  serves  me  right — when  my  attention  was  called  to  the 
movement  of  great  numbers  of  people.  I  saw  them  pouring  into 
an  auditorium. 

I  am  always  interested  in  the  guiding  spirit  of  a  throng,  so  I 
made  myself  a  part  of  this  concourse.  I  entered  the  auditorium. 
It  was  filled  to  the  galleries.  I  seated  myself,  and,  turning  to  my 
neighbor,  asked  for  the  purpose  of  the  gathering. 

"It's  a  peace  meeting/'  he  replied. 

I  turned  my  attention  to  the  stage.  I  saw  there  the  conven- 
tional semi-circle  of  three  rows  of  chairs.  Seven  men  were  seated 
in  the  foremost  row.-  I  can  see  their  faces  as  plainly  to-day  as  on 
that  Winter's  night,  four  years  ago: — Andrew  Carnegie,  Henry 
Clews,  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Thomas  W.  Lamont,  George  F. 
Baker,  Frederic  R.  Coudert  and  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott. 

Now  I  knew  the  origin  and  histories  of  these  men,  and  I 
wondered  what  had  brought  them  together  there.  I  listened  to 
some  of  the  speakers,  and  gathered  that  they  were  making  an 
appeal  to  the  audience  to  give  their  support  to  some  arbitration 
treaties  which  these  seven  men  wished  to  make  between  our 
country,  England  and  France.  Then  I  understood. 

Suddenly,  at  the  conclusion  of  one  of  the  addresses,  a  man 
arose  from  a  chair  in  the  semi-circle  on  the  stage,  and  advanced 
to  the  footlights.  He  was  a  mild  appearing  man,  slender  of  fig- 
ure, and  wearing  long  mustaches.  He  began  to  speak.  All  in 
that  large  audience  listened  breathlessly,  for  it  was  evident  that 
this  speech  was  not  on  the  prepared  programme. 

The  man  at  the  footlights  spoke : — ' '  I  wish  to  offer  as  a 
substitute  that  this  meeting  approve  the  resolution  already 
adopted  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  treaties  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  such 
treaties  being  breeders  of  war.  This  arbitration  movement  is 

68 


THE    SHAM    PEACE    SOCIETIES  69 

aimed  not  in  the  interest  of  peace,  but  in  that  of  war  with 
another  power, — Germany." 

The  audience  sat  stunned  for  a  moment.  Then  came  a  burst 
of  cheers  from  the  galleries,  followed  by  others  from  the  orchestra 
chairs: — "How  about  Germany?  This  is  all  aimed  at  Ger- 
many ! ' ' 

A  great  uproar  ensued.  The  chairman  was  compelled  to 
dismiss  the  gathering.  The  audience  had  not  given  its  approval 
to  the  plan  cherished  by  the  seven  men  seated  there  on  the  public 
stage. 

Now  this  meeting  became  historic  in  the  annals  of  the  peace 
agitations  of  that  day.  I  remember  my  surprise  at  the  upshot 
of  the  morrow.  For  certain  newspapers  controlled  by  Wall 
Street  bankers  tried,  for  some  secret  reason,  to  heap  obloquy  on 
the  heads  of  the  men  who  had  objected  to  the  proposed  treaties. 
They  called  them  "ruffians"  and  "hoodlums." 

Why  was  that  done  ? 

Here  was  an  American  citizen  who  had  spoken  in  support  of 
the  wishes  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  of 
the  Congress  of  the. United  States.  That  was  certainly  a  patriotic 
duty.  And  free  speech  is  not  prohibited  in  America,  nor  is 
liberty  of  thought. 

The  man  who  had  so  spoken  was  a  New  York  lawyer.  Yet 
Adolph  S.  Ochs,  in  his  newspaper,  assailed  him  in  these  words: — 
"He  is  a  bad  American.  In  fact,  he  is  not  an  American  at  all. 
We  mean  that  he  is  not  an  American  citizen.  For  all  we  know, 
he  may  have  been  born  here,  but  he  must  be  reborn." 

There  seemed  a  sinister  purpose  in  all  three  attacks,  and 
dreadful  doubts  succeeded  in  the  public  mind  concerning  these 
"peace"  negotiations.  It  was  felt  instinctively  that  foreign 
influences  were  at  work  to  compromise  the  future  of  our  country. 

Time  passed.    But  the  foreign  agitation  kept  secretly  at  work. 

THOSE   SEVEN   MEN- 

In  the  meantime,  keep  in  mind,  indelibly,  the  names  of  those 
seven  men  ivhom  I  noted  on  the  stage  front  of  Carnegie  Hall, 
that  troubled  Winter's  night. 

Men  who  nurse  shameful  ends  know  neither  haste  nor  rest. 
The  schemes  of  these  seven  men  had  been  frustrated  at  the 


70  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Carnegie  Hall  meeting.  But  the  result  of  that  meeting  was  the 
formation  of  two  "peace"  societies,  the  American  Peace  and 
Arbitration  League  and  the  New  York  Peace  Society.  How 
strange  to  note  that  the  presidents  of  both  were  Englishmen, 
Henry  Clews  and  Andrew  Carnegie. 

Wall  Street's  English  bankers  are  far-sighted  men.  They 
have  resources  and  cunning.  They  had  made  a  shade  of  differ- 
entiation between  these  two  organizations,  in  the  hope  that  they 
might  meet  the  objections  of  suspicious  or  unsuspecting  Amer- 
icans. 

It  was  on  January  25th,  1913,  that  we  find  the  " peace" 
friends  meeting  again.  And  it  is  again  in  Carnegie  Hall.  There 
we  find  two  members  of  this  Group  of  Seven,  the  two  English- 
men, Andrew  Carnegie  and  Henry  Clews.  By  this  time  they 
had  enlisted  the  services  of  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  once  of  Har- 
vard. They  expressed  their  extreme  disappointment  at  the 
failure  of  the  peace  treaties  they  had  planned  to  make  between 
England,  France  and  the  United  States.  Mr.  Carnegie,  however, 
asserted  his  conviction  that  the  end  of  all  war  was  in  sight,  and 
said  that  he  believed  that  the  doctrine  of  the  exemption  of 
private  property  on  the  seas  was  soon  to  be  a  reality,  since  it 
had  been  approved  by  eight  of  the  nations  and  needed  only  the 
sanction  of  Great  Britain.* 

Six  days  later,  Mr.  Carnegie  gathered  a  meeting  of  his 
(American)  New  York  Peace  Society,  and  appealed  to  the 
American  people  to  force  the  repeal  by  Congress  of  its  legislation 
governing  the  Panama  Canal  tolls,  which  was  detrimental  to 
England's  interests.  Not  like  the  "hoodlum"  who  had  sup- 
ported the  cause  of  the  American  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  Mr.  Carnegie  appealed  to  the  American  people  to 
destroy  an  act  of  Congress.  But  the  Wall  Street  newspapers 
did  not  call  Mr.  Carnegie  a  "hoodlum"  or  a  "ruffian."  Mr. 
Adolph  S.  Ochs  treated  him  most  tenderly. 

At  this  meeting,  Robert  Underwood  Johnson,  vice-president 
of  the  "Peace"  Society,  declared:  "For  the  first  time  in  their 
lives,  as  they  have  confessed  to  me,  Americans  ( ?)  could  not 
look  Englishmen  fair  in  the  face  because  of  the  interpretation 
put  by  our  Congress  upon  our  treaty  obligations." 

*  Who  has  confiscated  $15,000,000  worth  of  American  meat  cargoes,  and 
hundreds  of  millions  of  American  cotton  cargoes? 


THE    SHAM    PEACE    SOCIETIES  71 

Twenty-three  days  later  (still  in  1913,  remember)  Henry 
Clews,  the  English  President  of  the  American  (?)  Peace  and 
Arbitration  League,  called  a  gathering  of  his  people,  among 
the  members  of  the  committee  being  Andrew  Carnegie,  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott,  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot  and  FRANCIS  LYNDE 
STETSON.  Mr.  Carnegie  predicted  that  the  day  of  universal 
peace  was  not  far  distant,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  the  differ- 
ences ivith  England  might  be  arbitrated. 

Then  came  the  great  war  in  Europe.  When  had  the  English 
plotters  expected  it?  Before  this,  at  Agadir?  "Who  can  sound 
the  secrets  of  human  thought  ? 

Now  it  was  found  necessary  to  bring  about  an  alteration  in 
this  English  plot.  There  was  no  longer  a  question  of  " peace." 
Now  the  secret  agitation  of  Wall  Street's  English  bankers  was 
to  be  on  behalf  of  the  "patriotic"  duty  of  national  defense. 
Patriotism,  they  say,  is  the  last  refuge  of  scoundrels.  The 
world's  history  always  shows  how  plutocrats  play  upon  the 
sincere  patriotic  instincts  of  their  countrymen,  that  they  may 
make  money  out  of  the  intoxication  of  the  heedless  rabble. 

We  shall  see  Roman  history  now  repeat  itself. 

THE   PATRIOTS    MEET 

One  hundred  and  fifty  "American  patriots"  assembled  at  the 
Hotel  Belmont  in  December,  1914,  and  organized  the  National 
Security  League.  It  is  necessary,  of  course,  that  somebody  must 
advance  the  funds  for  any  public  movement.  Among  the  com- 
mittee chosen  were  Mr.  Frederic  R.  Coudert,  counsel  for  the 
French  government,  and  Mr.  Herbert  L.  Satterlee,  the  brother- 
in-law  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan.  The  committee  demanded  that 
the  government  at  once  spend  $100,000,000  on  armament. 

At  this  meeting,  Mr.  George  Haven  Putnam,  an  Englishman, 
London  born,  spoke  as  follows: 

"Suppose  England  is  crushingly  defeated  in  this  war,  and 
her  enemies  wish  to  invade  Canada.  A  big  fleet  and  expedi- 
tionary force  appears  off  New  York  and  asks  permission  to  march 
an  invading  army  up  the  Hudson  Valley.  We  refuse.  You 
can  see  all  the  towns  along  the  Hudson  River  in  ruins. 

"A  military  authority  in  Berlin  recently  said  that  when 
Germany  had  obtained  a  coaling  station  on  the  American  coast, 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  smashing  the  American  coast 
cities  and  crushing  the  Republic." 


72  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Of  course  we  all  know  that  no  Berlin  authority  ever  made 
such  a  statement,  and  that  no  army  intending  to  invade  Canada 
would  be  so  idiotic  as  to  wish  to  march  up  the  Hudson  Valley. 
But  this  statement  was  made  by  this  English  agitator  simply  in 
the  interest  of  the  English  propaganda  in  order  to  create  fear 
in  the  minds  of  the  ignorant  and  feeble-minded. 

The  English,  you  see,  feared  the  thirty  millions  of  American 
citizens  of  German  blood,  whose  fathers  had  fought  in  all  our 
country's  wars.  It  was  necessary  for  their  plot  to  cow  and 
discredit  all  Americans  of  German  descent. 

For  this,  the  National  Security  League  was  not  enough,  as 
the  American  (?)  Peace  and  Arbitration  League  and  the  New 
York  Peace  Society  had  not  been  sufficient.  There  must  be  a 
monopoly  on  the  part  of  the  English  bankers  of  Wall  Street,  of 
all  " patriotic "  and  "defense"  movements,  so  that  real  Amer- 
icans should  not  have  liberty  of  action  in  such  organizations. 

Now  we  reach  the  culminating  step  in  the  plans  of  the  Group 
of  Seven  men,  whom  we  recall  as  having  been  seated  on  the  front 
of  the  stage  at  that  meeting  in  Carnegie  Hall  four  years  before. 

J.  Pierpont  Morgan  had  appointed  himself  the  official  war 
agent  of  England  in  this  country.  He  had  made  contracts  with 
all  the  munitions  factories,  so  that  all  their  output  would  'be 
assured  to  the  country  that  he  loves  better  than  his  own.  He  had 
organized  other  great  munitions  factories,  for  the  manufacture  of 
shells  and  shrapnel  while  England 's  war  should  last.  But  he  is 
a  far-sighted  man.  When  the  war  ends,  he  intends  that  these 
factories  shall  be  sold  to  the  United  States  government.  To 
accomplish  this  purpose,  the  American  public  must  be  educated 
to  the  fact  that  "national  defense"  is  a  great  and  patriotic  duty. 

The  National  Security  League  had  asked  an  immediate  appro- 
priation of  $100,000,000  for  the  national  defense.  That  was  only 
a  feeler  to  "educate  the  public."  The  sum  must  be  made  much 
higher. 

Colonel  Robert  M.  Thompson,  chairman  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  one  of  the  war  munitions  companies,  was  selected  as 
the  stalking  horse  in  this  development.  As  a  one-time  graduate 
of  Annapolis,  he  had  organized  a  Navy  League.  This  moribund 
society  was  now  to  be  used  in  the  furtherance  of  the  Morgan  plan. 
Colonel  Thompson  inaugurated  a  "defense"  luncheon,  and  in- 
vited to  it  the  members  of  the  Group  of  Seven.  Invitations  were 


THE    SHAM   PEACE    SOCIETIES  73 

extended  by  him  to  the  heads  of  all  the  war  munitions  companies 
and  the  Wall  Street  bankers  who  do  business  with  them. 

Among  the  gathering  invited  we  note : — J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
Thomas  W.  Lament,  George  F.  Baker,  Frederic  R.  Coudert,  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott,  as  also  most  of  the  other  partners  of  Morgan,  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Herbert  L.  Satterlee. 

At  this  meeting,  Colonel  Thompson  proposed  that  the  govern- 
ment immediately  expend  not  $100,000,000,  but  $500,000,000  on 
armament.  The  method  in  educating  the  public  was  the  same 
later  adopted  in  the'machinations  of  this  same  group  for  a  billion- 
dollar  loan  to  the  Allies. 

This  $500,000,000  was  to  flow,  of  course,  right  back  into  the 
pockets  of  the  men  invited  to  Colonel  Thompson 's  luncheon. 

STIFLING   THE   PUBLIC    CONSCIENCE 

But  these  people  had  something  else  to  fear,  and  that  was 
that  the  conscience  of  the  American  people  would  be  awakened, 
and  they  might  have  an  embargo  placed  on  the  exportation  of 
war  material.  That,  of  course,  would  be  fatal  to  the  Morgan 
group  of  munitions  makers,  who  were  expecting  to  make  their 
millions  out  of  a  world  catastrophe.  But  they  cleverly  executed 
their  campaign  for  the  stifling  of  the  public  conscience.  College 
professors  were  hired  to  write  articles,  informing  us  that  it 
would  be  "unneutral"  to  place  an  embargo  on  arms  shipments. 
That  weak  nations  would  be  unable  to  protect  themselves  against 
strong  nations  if  we  did  so.  That  German  militarism  must  be 
crushed. 

And  they  did  not  call  attention,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  the 
"weak  nations "  to  whom  Morgan  was  supplying  arms  were  the 
great  empires  of  Russia  and  Great  Britain,  and  that  so  far  from 
suppressing  militarism,  the  Morgans  were  trying  to  impose  mili- 
tarism upon  the  country  by  the  expenditure  of  a  half  billion 
on  armament. 

In  the  meantime  a  movement  was  begun  in  Carnegie's  New 
York  Peace  Society  for  an  embargo  on  the  shipment  of  arms. 
Morgan  had  provided  means  to  oppose  that.  His  men,  Lyman 
Abbott  and  his  counsel,  the  corporation  lawyer,  Francis  Lynde 
Stetson,  of  the  Steel  Trust,  and  the  Englishman,  George  Haven 
Putnam,  hastily  formed  a  committee  and  issued  a  statement 


74  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

September  6th,  protesting  against  any  interruption  to  the  ship- 
ment of  arms,  since  that  might  curtail  the  profits  of  Morgan 
and  the  Steel  Trust.  Similarly,  when  John  Wanamaker,  in  Phil- 
adelphia, advocated  an  embargo  on  arms,  Morgan's  men  in  the 
National  Security  League  made  him  resign  at  once  as  chairman. 

When  some  women  in  Baltimore  issued  posters,  calling  on 
Americans  to  protest  against  the  arms  shipments,  Ochs,  the 
Money  Trust  tool  in  New  York,  did  not  spare  American  woman- 
hood to  serve  his  Wall  Street  masters.  Absolutely,  this  man 
Ochs  attacked  American  women,  assailing  them  as  doing  a 
shameful  thing  in  protesting  against  arms  shipments,  since  that 
might  curtail  Morgan's  profits. 

Corporation  lawyers  all  flew  to  the  rescue  of  Morgan  profits, 
in  which  most  of  them  always  share.  A  Baltimore  corporation 
lawyer,  Charles  Jerome  Bonaparte,  once  an  attorney  general,  in 
agitating  for  the  National  Security  League,  said  at  Carnegie 
Hall: — "If  I  am  asked  what  I  mean  by  a  reasonably  possible 
enemy,  I  reply — any  power  except  Great  Britain. "  And  more 
recently  he  wrote  to  the  American  Defense  Society: — "I  am  in 
cordial  sympathy  with  prompt  provision  for  the  national  defense. 
We  have  become  involved  in  controversies  with  powerful  nations. 
When  the  war  shall  end,  those  whom  we  have  offended  may  be 
victorious." 

I  think  a  child  could  detect  a  false  ring  to  these  words. 
They  brought  something  to  my  mind,  and  impelled  me  to  look 
up  Mr.  Bonaparte  in  "Who's  Who  in  America,"  where  I  found 
that  he  had  .given  his  lineage  as  follows: — "Charles  Jerome 
Bonaparte,  grandson  of  Jerome  Bonaparte,  King  of  West- 
phalia." That's  enough! 

I  think  that  if  we  revert  to  that  stormy  Winter  night  in  1911, 
when  our  countrymen  experienced  misgivings  that  all  was  not 
well  with  the  sham  peace  propaganda,  and  that  it  was  in  reality 
a  movement  to  ally  this  country  on  the  side  of  England  in  her 
coming  war,  we  have  found  THAT  THEIR  FEARS  WERE 
JUSTIFIED. 

WHO    THEY   ARE 

Let  us  analyze  the  affiliations  of  the  seven  men  who  sat  on 
the  stage  in  Carnegie  Hall  that  memorable  night. 

There  was  Andrew.  Carnegie,  born  in  Great  Britain,  with  a 


THE    SHAM   PEACE    SOCIETIES  75 

home  on  Fifth  Avenue,  and  one  in  Scotland;  casting  his  vote 
in  both  countries ;  holder  of  $300,000,000— odd  Steel  Sinkers,— 
five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  Steel  Trust,  which  now  earns  its 
income  from  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  shells  and  bayonets, 
used  to  arm  Russian  Cossacks  and  Senegal  negroes  for  the 
destruction  of  a  white  race. 

Should  an  Englishman,  so  conscienceless  as  this,  head  an 
American  peace  society? 

There  was  Henry  Clews,  born  in  England ;  for  years  a  pro- 
British  agitator;  who  derives  his  income  from  a  score  of  little 
branch  brokerage  offices,  where  men  speculate  in  war  stocks  on 
margin.  One  of  the  leading  brokers  in  Wall  Street  told  me  one 
day  that,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when  he  balanced  his  books, 
there  was  rarely  a  customer  who  had  not  lost  his  all  in  the  stock 
market  gamble. 

Is  an  Englishman  such  as  this  qualified  to  head  an  American 
peace  society  ? 

There  was  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  war  agent  of  England,  whose 
record  in  ' '  Who 's  Who ' '  is  gi ven  thus : — 

J.  Pierpont  Morgan — Homes : —  Offices : — 

231  Madison  Ave.,  N.  Y.  23  Wall  St.,  N.  Y. 

12  Grosvenor  Sq.,  London,  W.        22  Old  Broad  St.,  London. 

Clubs: — White's,  St.  James  Club  and  the  City  of  London 
Club. 

Is  this  English  banker  qualified  to  lead  an  American  peace 
or  defense  movement  ? 

There  was  Thomas  W.  Lamont,  the  partner  of  Morgan,  Eng- 
land 's  war  agent. 

There  was  George  F.  Baker,  one  of  Wall  Street's  Big  Four, 
and  a  leader  of  the  Money  Trust,  investigated  and  censured  by 
the  Pujo  Committee. 

There  was  Frederic  R.  Coudert,  son  of  a  French  father  and 
counsel  for  the  French  government,  director  of  a  company  doing 
a  business  of  billions  with  the  war  munitions  concerns,  and  a 
bitter  anti-German  agitator. 

There  was  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  of  the  Outlook,  whose  venom- 
ous pen  has  worn  itself  dull  in  the  last  shameful  year  in  pro- 
British  agitations. 

And  now  it  is  these  men,  the  inflamers  of  public  sentiment, 
who  laughed  at  us  when  we  opposed  an  arms  embargo,  who  now 


76      WAR  PLOTTERS  OP  WALL  STREET 

tell  us  that ' '  we  have  offended ' '  powerful  nations  by  the  shipment 
of  arms  to  their  enemies.  They  instruct  us  we  must  arm  in  our 
own  defense,  and  that  the  government  must  buy  Morgan's  war 
plants,  and  slip  $500,000,000  into  the  pockets  of  this  multi- 
millionaire. 

Why  not  let  us  ape  England,  and  tax  the  munitions  makers 
for  the  national  defense?  They  are  the  only  ones  who  have 
made  money  in  this  country  during  the  year  that  is  dead  and 
gone. 

But  these  Englishmen  new  evidently  fear  the  120  millions  of 
Germans  in  Central  Europe,  whom  they  "have  offended"  by 
their  sale  of  arms  to  England.  I  would  call  to  their  attention 
that  there  are  others  nearer  home  whom  they  have  cause  to  fear, 
— that  is,  the  thirty  millions  of  Americans  of  German  blood, 
upon  whom  they  have  tried  to  heap  infamy  during  the  last 
twelve  months.  How  do  they  purpose  to  defend  themselves 
against  these  enemies?  These  thirty  millions  are  now  welded 
together  as  one,  they  think  as  one,  and  they  are  strong  enough 
to  bring  to  a  stern  accounting  the  English  crew  who,  for  the  last 
year,  have  singled  them  out  of  the  social  body  for  attack. 


Is  it  not  clearly  proved  that  Morgan,  years  ago,  .took  care  to 
monopolize  the  sham  "peace'7  movements  and  the  "fake"  de- 
fense movements?  His  father  and  his  partners  organized  the 
"arbitration  treaties"  in  favor  of  England.  Morgan  and  his 
lawyers  and  creatures  were  instrumental  in  founding  and  con- 
trolling the  New  York  Peace  Society  and  the  American  Peace 
and  Arbitration  League,  the  Navy  League  and  the  National 
Security  League.  Morgan's  hand  has  been  in  all  this.  He  is 
the  evil  genius  of  his  race. 

Is  this  disloyalty,  or  treason  ? 

Morgan  is  restless  and  untiring  to  swing  this  country  into 
England's  maw.  He  is  dogged  and  determined  in  his  actions. 
Congress  has  a  stern  duty  to  perform.  It  must  check  this 
dangerous  man.  If  Congress  does  not  act,  then  the  people  will. 
It  is  dangerous  to  goad  the  people  into  action. 

Morgan's  wrath  is  bitter  in  this  hour  of  the  miscarriage  of 
his  plans.  He  has  been  unable  to  force  this  country  into  war  on 


THE    SHAM    PEACE    SOCIETIES  77 

England's  side.     His  loan  to  the  Allies  was  cut  in  half.     What 
is  he  plotting  now? 

When  the  people  objected  to  Morgan's  billion-dollar  loan,  his 
organ,  the  Sun,  came  out  and  said: — 

"Should  the  loan  be  withheld,  and  the  war  thus  cut  short, 
to  whose  advantage  would  it  be  ?  How  much  of  Russia  would 
Germany  annex?  What  would  become  of  Morocco?  What 
would  become  of  Egypt  ?  What  would  Germany  do  to  British 
commerce?  What  would  Germany  do  to  Britain's  natural  de- 
fense, her  navy?" 

In  this,  Morgan  at  last  unmasked  himself.  He  has  not  been 
working  for  America.  What  do  Americans  care  how  much  of 
Russia  Germany  annexes  ?  What  do  they  care  what  becomes  of 
British  commerce,  or  whether  she  remains  in  Egypt,  which  she 
has  stolen  from  the  Turk  ?  What  care  have  we  to  maintain  the 
French  in  the  filched  country  of  Morocco  ? 

But  that  is  Morgan's  will.  He  would  have  us  fight  for 
England  and  France: — he  would  have  us  lend  our  billions  to 
them  for  the  purposes  of  their  war,  regardless  of  the  conse- 
quences to  our  welfare. 

Is  Morgan  now  seeking  to  precipitate  a  panic  in  this  country? 

The  thing  is  by  no  means  improbable. 

Morgan's  father  is  said  to  have  doubled  the  family  fortune  in 
the  panic  days  of  1907.  He  was  enabled  then  to  get  the 
Tennessee  Coal  &  Iron  Co.  for  his  Steel  Trust  without  the 
expenditure  of  a  dollar,  and  merely  by  the  printing  of  a  few 
bond  certificates. 

When  a  Morgan  railroad  goes  into  receivership,  Morgan 
makes  a  million  dollars  commission  in  reorganization. 

Wall  Street  does  not  fear  panics.  It  thrives  on  the  misfor- 
tunes of  the  people. 


VIII. 
RED    LIGHTS    AHEAD! 

"Red  lights  ahead!"  In  this  picturesque  railroad  phrase, 
grown  famous  in  financial  annals,  James  J.  Hill,  then  chairman 
of  the  Great  Northern  Railroad,  predicted  the  oncoming  panic 
of  1907. 

I  was  reminded  of  this  prediction,  made  by  Mr.  Hill,  a  man 
whom  I  greatly  admire,  as  I  walked  through  Wall  Street  a  few 
days  ago.  These  panics,  which  the  public  fears  so  justly,  come 
for  some  strange  reason  upon  us  every  seven  or  eight  years. 
Panics  are  not  wholly  man-made.  They  are  often  made  unwit- 
tingly, through  the  madness  of  men. 

I  remember  the  panic  of  '93,  when  I  had  just  "struck"  New 
York  City  from  Ohio,  a  poor  lad.  And  another  one  came  later, 
in  1901,  made  solely  by  Wall  Street  gamblers.  Six  years  later 
came  the  ' '  rich  man 's  panic. ' ' 

What  reminded  me  of  "  Jim ' '  Hill 's  fine  phrase  as  I  strolled 
through  Wall  Street  this  late  September  day  ?  There  was  much 
to  contemplate.  To  the  left  hand,  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Wall  Streets,  topping  the  new  white  structure  of  the  House  of 
English  Morgan,  a  great  steel  screen  had  been  placed  above  the 
court  that  opens  on  the  glass  roof  covering  the  ground  floor  of 
his  banking  house.  A  cordon  of  armed  detectives  was  stationed 
about  his  office  doors. 

From  the  right  hand  there  came  to  me  the  subdued  uproar  of 
shouting,  shrieking  voices — voices  of  maddened  brokers  on  the 
guarded  floor  of  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  also  still  topped 
with  a  steel  wire  screen.  And  at  the  entrance  of  the  Exchange, 
the  greatest  money 'market  of  our  country,  there  still  hung  the 
sign  "Gallery  Closed  for  Repairs."  Wall  Street  brokers  still 
refuse  the  public  admittance  to  the  scene  of  their  operations. 

And  I  felt  downcast  and  depressed  as  I  thought  back  on  those 
long-gone  years  when  I  had  come  to  this  city,  a  poor  boy  from 
Ohio.  How  the  days  had  changed !  Then  there  was  public  spirit 

78 


RED    LIGHTS    AHEAD!  79 

and  free  thought.  Newspapers  like  the  World  and  Sun  would 
have  had  electrifying  stories  of  the  fear  in  which  Morgan  and 
his  creatures  dwelt,  of  the  -manner  in  wrhich  they  had  screened 
themselves  from  public  vengeance.  And  our  country  would  not 
have  been  unwarned. 

But  to-day  the  word  of  a  powerful  English  banker  is  sufficient 
to  still  the  columns  of  newspapers,  which  in  the  past  thought  it 
their  best  endeavor  to  strive  for  the  public  good. 

"Red  lights  ahead!"  Races  become  decadent  through  cor- 
ruption— yes,  those  races  that  we  love  the  best.  When  we  were 
boys  we  all  read  Plutarch,  and  loved  him  for  the  knowledge  of 
human  nature  he  displayed.  You  remember  old  Timon  of 
Athens,  and  the  words  he  spoke  to  Alcibiades,  when  he  saw  him 
driving  his  countrymen  to  madness?  "Go  on,  my  brave  boy, 
and  prosper,  for  your  prosperity  will  bring  ruin  on  all  this 
crowd ! ' ' 

And  I  thought  of  Young  Morgan  and  his  English  banking 
friends  of  Wall  Street.  Here  are  bankers,  mad  with  race  hatred, 
throwing  all  conservatism  and  caution  to  the  winds.  They  try 
to  fling  away  the  public's  billion,  as  though  it  were  so  much 
chaff.  It  is  hard  to  earn  a  billion  dollars.  No  man  has  ever 
done  so.  The  slender  savings  of  the  people,  always  hard  earned, 
are  a  mere  bauble  in  the  hands  of  thoughtless  bankers. 

Read  the  columns  of  Ochs,  the  tool  of  the  Money  Trust,  and 
he  will  blabbingly  tell  you  of  the  "millionaires  made  by  war 
stocks." 

Yes,  there  are  men  in  Wall  Street  who  have  made  millions  in 
war  stocks.  They  are  making  them  by  juggling  the  money  of 
the  people,  which  blind  confidence  and  honest  faith  had  entrusted 
to  their  care.  Then  comes  the  great  Day  of  Reckoning — as  it 
came  in  '93,  in  1901,  in  1907.  And  then  who  has  won  out?  The 
men  who  do  not  care  for  panic  days — the  men  of  Wall  Street. 
They  will  lean  back  and  laugh  at  you  then,  glutted  with  their 
millions,  and  you  and  I  shall  have  to  pay  their  bills. 

WARNING   VOICES   IGNORED 

"Red  lights  ahead !"  Back  in  those  days  the  voices  of  warn- 
ing were  ignored.  They  were  spoken  by  Hill  and  Jacob  Schiff. 
But  in  1906-07  there  were  the  same  conditions  that  prevail  to-day. 


80  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

The  mad  market,  the  million-share  days.  The  inflation,  the  banks 
loaning  the  people's  money  on  mushroom  stocks,  while  happy 
brokers  laughed  and  made  their  coin.  The  same  conditions 
prevail  to-day — the  clerks  working  overtime  in  .the  gambling 
houses  of  Wall  Street,  sleeping  on  improvised  cots,  working  day 
and  night,  in  the  fever  and  furor,  trying  to  keep  track  of  the 
accounts  of  the  poor  dupes  who  are  misled  by  the  intoxicating' 
songs  of  corrupt  newspapers  of  "fortunes  made  in  stocks." 

The  Day  of  Reckoning  is  as  sure  as  the  tides  and  the  floods 
and  the  setting  of  the  moon.  It  is  the  world  old  story  of  human 
credulity,  of  human  faith  in  the  lying  tongues  of  scheming  men. 

"Red  lights  ahead!"  It  is  now  October,  in  the  year  1915. 
Clip  out  this  story  and  file  it  away  for  the  future  day — the  great 
Day  of  Reckoning,  when  men  must  pay  for  the  sins  of  others, 
when  factories  will  close  their  gates,  and  the  store  and  the  ware- 
house will  ring  to  empty  footfalls.  And  far  away,  in  Europe, 
perhaps,  you  may  see  the  faces  of  mocking  English  bankers,  the 
expatriates  of  the  Money  Trust,  who  have  coined  their  swag  and 
made  their  homes  abroad,  and  who  now  laugh  at  their  foolish 
dupes,  whom  they  hoodwinked  with  false  tales  and  lying  profits, 
living  lives  of  ease  on  stolen  money. 

The  Wall  Street-owned  newspapers,  with  their  powerful  and 
unscrupulous  news  syndicates,  which  ferret  out  the  ignorant  and 
unsuspecting  in  every  hamlet  in  the  land,  are  regaling  the  public 
to-day  with  their  stories,  "Wall  Street  is  a  street  of  gold," 
"millionaires  are  being  made  daily,"  "there  are  fortunes  to  be 
made  in  war  stocks." 

Poor,  foolish  human  frailty !  Will  that  day  ever  come  when 
men  will  listen  to  those  who  wish  them  well?  When  the  honest 
and  unsuspecting  will  no  longer  heed  the  voices  of  plutocratic 
tempters  ? 

"Wall  Street  is  paved  with  gold!"  And  the  poor  fellow, 
wrorkless  and  worrying,  who  walks  the  streets,  is  tempted  to  take 
his  money  from  the  savings  bank  and  put  it  in  war  stocks. 

If  there  are  those  who  are  willing  to  listen,  let  them  pay  heed 
to  this.  Do  you  know  that  only  a  week  ago  the  Missouri,  Kansas 
and  Texas  Railroad  went  into  a  receiver  *s  hands  ?  The  Missouri 
Pacific  is  bankrupt.  What  has  become  of  the  Rock  Island? 
Have  you  seen  the  dreadful  loss  in  the  earnings  of  the  Union 
Pacific? 


RED    LIGHTS    AHEAD!  81 

Those  are  our  great  properties  on  which  our  fortunes  and  our 
wealth  depend.  In  those  roads,  the  arteries  of  the  business  life 
of  the  country,  the  money  of  the  savings  banks  is  invested.  Are 
they  prospering?  No. 

Who  prospers  ? '  The  munitions  makers  ?  Perhaps.  But  from 
what  source  do  their  profits  come  ?  From  France,  from  England, 
from  Russia  ?  From  countries  devastated  by  the  greatest  war  in 
history?  No,  England,  Russia,  France  are  not  sending  gold  to 
our  country  to  enrich  the  munitions  makers.  Those  English 
bankers  of  Wall  Street  have  paid  themselves  for  the  debts  the 
bankrupt  countries  of  Europe  owe  by  taking  the  millions  of 
savings  of  the  American  people,  which  are  deposited  in  savings 
banks,  in  life  and  fire  insurance  companies,  and  these  men,  who 
love  foreigners  better  than  their  own  countrymen,  have  placed  in 
these  companies  the  notes  of  their  bankrupt  friends,  whom  they 
toasted  and  flattered  in  New  York  at  their  Pilgrim  dinners  and 
their  bankers*  feasts,  at  which  they  drank  the  healths  of  King 
George  of  England,  the  Russian  Czar,  the  King  of  Italy  and  the 
assassin  rulers  of  Servia. 

But  business  is  bad  in  the  United  States.    We  all  know  that. 

The  Money  Trust  newspapers  of  Wall  Street,  drunk  with  the 
advertising  profits  that  now  fill  their  columns,  do  not  tell  you 
such  facts  as  these.  The  Commercial  and  Financial  Chronicle, 
of  September  25th,  says :  ' '  England  has  huge  resources  to  draw 
upon,  no  matter  what  may  happen,  and  she  has  never  in  her 
entire  history  undertaken  to  place  one  of  her  Government  loans 
in  a  foreign  country.  Even  if  we  take  an  extreme  view  of  the 
case  and  contemplate  the  possibility  of  partial  insolvency  as  the 
result  of  the  putting  out  of  huge  additional  masses  of  debt  with 
the  continuation  of  the  war,  it  is  inconceivable  that  this  $500,- 
000,000  or  $600,000,000  foreign  loan  will  ever  be  in  danger." 

THE  BANKRUPT'S  TOLL 

This  is  the  still  and  silent  voice  of  a  financial  organ,  which 
few  will  read.  It  does  not  say  that  England  has  had  to  pay  the 
bankrupt's  toll  of  six  per  cent,  for  her  money  by  placing  a  first 
mortgage  on  the  Empire.  It  does  not  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  her  premier  security,  Consols,  is  selling  at  a  "minimum  ' 
price  of  65.  This  minimum  means  that  the  British  Government 


32  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

dares  not  let  a  free  market  prevail  in  her  chief  security,  that  if 
the  minimum  price  were  removed,  it  would  drop  to  a  panic  figure. 
The  figure  is  easily  calculated.  Consols  bear  interest  at  2 1/2  per 
cent.  The  British  loan  forced  upon  the  American  people  by  the 
publicity  campaign  of  the  Morgan  group  pays  5  per  cent.,  but 
sells  at  96%.  Then  a  security  paying  one-half  that  interest  is 
worth  only  one-half  the  price — or  48J/8.  That  figure  is  the  price 
of  British  Consols  to-day — no,  it  is  not  the  price,  for  the  loan 
imposed  upon  America  is  a  first  mortgage  upon  the  taxing  power 
of  the  British  Empire,  and  Consols  take  the  rank  of  a  second 
mortgage,  and  can  be  worth  only  40  or  thereabouts. 

I  shall  quote  a  warning  issued  at  the  Investment  Bankers' 
Association  of  America,  at  Denver  last  week,  which  your  Money 
Trust  newspaper  did  not  dare  to  print  and  which  was  uttered 
by  Mr.  A.  B.  Leach,  the  President  of  the  Association,  who  said : 
"Gentlemen,  I  have  presented  three  pictures,  which  perhaps 
have  a  somewhat  gloomy  atmosphere,  three  pictures  which  be- 
speak possible  disaster  even. 

1  i  As  investment  bankers  we  face  the  problem  that  the  capital, 
which  has  been  expended  for  the  development  of  this  country, 
derived  in  the  past  from  Europe,  will  not  be  available. 

"I  have  heard  it  prophesied  by  the  very  wise  that  at  the  end 
of  the  war  we  would  face  a  financial  catastrophe,  that  wreckage 
and  repudiation  would  be  worldwide." 

1 '  The  capital  which  has  been  expended  for  the  development  of 
this  country,  derived  in  the  past  from  Europe,  will  not  be  avail- 
able." And  at  the  siren  voice  of  Morgan,  the  credulous  Amer- 
ican people  have  been  tempted  to  give  of  their  own  capital 
$500,000,000  to  France,  England  and  Russia,  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  English  bankers. 

And  thus,  while  Wall  Street  bankers  throw  away  one-half 
billion  of  the  people's  money,  what  is  being  done  with  the 
reserves  of  Wall  Street  banks  ? 

Let  us  see. 

In  the  chart  that  is  given  below,  we  can  clearly  see  what 
game  the  conscienceless  houses  of  Wall  Street  are  perpetrating. 
In  the  last  seven  weeks,  ended  with  October  2nd,  in  only  twenty 
of  the  war  stocks,  and  there  are  perhaps  as  many  more,  thirteen 
million  five  hundred  and  eleven  thousand  shares  were  traded  in, 
and  in  this  gamble,  solely  in  these  twenty  stocks,  remember,  the 


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84  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

brokers,  their  victims  and  the  bankers  manipulated  the  immense 
sum  of  one  billion  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  million  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
ftbllars. 

What  a  dreadful  situation  here  presents  itself.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  Morgan  group  helps  itself  to  a  half  billion  of  the 
people's  money,  to  repay  itself  for  the  munitions  sold  to  the 
bankrupt  Allies.  On  the  other  hand,  great  railroad  systems  go 
thundering  down  into  bankruptcy,  imperilling  the  resources  of 
the  country,  while  not  a  hand  is  raised  to  help  them.  And  no\v 
the  Wall  Street  bankers  further  use  the  funds  of  the  public  to 
lend  one  billion  one  hundred  millions  to  the  war  stock  gamblers 
on  twenty  inflated  war  stocks  in  seven  weeks. 

These  are  termed  "call"  loans.  They  must  be  met  and  paid 
on  demand.  WHAT  WILL  HAPPEN  IN  WALL  STREET 
WHEN  THE  CALL  LOANS  ARE  CALLED  ? 

Two  months  ago  THE  FATHERLAND  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  members  of  the  Stock  Exchange  were  working  in  guilty 
fear,  hidden  from  the  public  eye.  At  that  time  the  officials  of 
the  Exchange  explained  in  the  Wall  Street  organ,  the  Times,  that 
the  gallery  was  being  *  *  repaired, ' '  and  that  the  steel  screen  had 
been  placed  above  the  building  because  of  the  fear  of  falling 
bricks.  Must  not  Mr.  Noble  feel  very  silly  to-day  at  his  attempted 
deception  of  the  public?  Now,  after  the  lapse  of  months,  the 
gallery  is  still  closed  to  the  public,  and  the  steel  wire  covering  has 
been  adopted  across  the  way ,  on  the  roof  of  Morgan 's  building. 

Mr.  Noble  and  his  friends,  hiding  and  working  in  guilty  fear, 
are  too  drunk  with  the  war  stock  gamble  to  heed  the  kindly  meant 
warning.  They  have  since  even  added  to  their  list  other  war 
stocks,  and  added  to  the  financial  danger. 

It  is  essential  then  that  the  public  take  heed  of  its  savings 
and  see  that  they  are  not  secretly  invested  in  guilty  stocks  and 
the  blood-stained  war  bonds  of  the  Money  Trust. 

THE   AACHEN   &    MUNICH    FIRE   INSURANCE    CO. 

We  have  received  the  following  letter  from  the  Aachen  & 
Munich  Fire  Insurance  Company: 

"In  the  issue  of  THE  FATHERLAND,  dated  the  29th  irist.,  an 
article  appears  in  wrhich  the  name  of  our  company  is  quoted  in 


RED    LIGHTS    AHEAD!  85 

a  manner  which  might  suggest  to  some  readers  that  the  Aachen 
&  Munich  Fire  Insurance  Company  would  buy  the  bonds  of 
some  of  the  countries  involved  in  the  European  war. 

"In  order  that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding  on  this 
point  we  would  greatly  appreciate  your  mentioning  the  fact  in 
your  paper  that  the  securities  owned  by  this  company  in  the 
United  States  consist  exclusively  of  United  States  Government, 
State,  Municipal  and  Railroad  bonds,  and  any  further  invest- 
ment which  may  be  made  in  the  interest  of  the  Aachen  & 
Munich  Fire  Insurance  Company  will  be  limited  to  bonds  of 
the  same  character. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  J.  A.  KELSEY, 

Manager. ' ' 

THE    PENN    MUTUAL,    LIFE   INSURANCE    COMPANY 

Similarly  THE  FATHERLAND  receives  the  following  communi- 
cation from  the  Peiin  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company : 

"I  notice  in  the  issue  of  your  paper  of  September  29th  that 
you  publish,  on  page  128,  an  inference  that  the  Penn  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company  is  connected  with  or  will  invest  in  the 
war  loan  securities  about  to  be  issued.  I  beg  to  state  that  this 
company  carries  no  money  in  foreign  securities.  It  is  prohibited 
from  owning  them.  Its  life  insurance  business  and  its  invest- 
ment field  (all  its  operations)  are  confined  to  a  territory  within 
the  borders  of  the  United  States.  I  think  this  will  assure  you 
and  your  readers  that  the  funds  of  our  company  are  carefully 
guarded. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  GEO:  K.  JOHN- 

President." 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  THE  FATHERLAND  to  publish  these  frank 
letters.  Undoubtedly  the  public  will  also  appreciate  the  fact 
that  the  investments  of  the  Aachen  &  Munich  and  the  Penn 
Mutual  Life  are  not  to  be  risked  in  foreign  loans.  In  the  same 
article  the  names  of  other  fire  and  life  insurance  companies  were 
mentioned,  whose  directors  or  officials  had  attended  the  confer- 
ence at  the  Morgan  Library  in  the  interest  of  the  Anglo-French 
war  loan.  And  still  even  more  significant  was  the  fact  that  this 
private  conference  was  attended  by  officers  of  great  public 
savings  banks,  such  as  the  Union  Dime,  the  Greenwich  Savings 
Bank  and  the  Bowery  Savings  Bank.  Such  institutions  are 


86  WAR    PLOTTERS    OP    WALL    STREET 

restricted  by  law  as  to  their  investments,  but  many  of  them  keep 
surplus  funds  on  deposit  in  other  banking  institutions,  which 
use  them  as  they  wish.  The  German  Savings  Bank  came  out 
the  other  day  and  announced  that  it  would  withdraw  such 
deposits  from  other  institutions  unless  it  received  assurances  that 
such  funds  would  not  be  used  in  the  hazards  of  the  Anglo-French 
loan  of  Morgan's. 

This  announcement  was  highly  appreciated  by  the  bank's 
depositors.  Is  it  not  of  deep  moment  to  the  depositors  in  the 
Greenwich,  the  Bowery  and  the  Union  Dime  to  receive  similar 
assurances  that  their  money  will  not  be  employed  contrary  to 
law  in  hazardous  loans?  Failing  to  receive  such  assurances,  it 
is  to  the  interest  of  such  depositors  to  place  their  savings  in 
institutions  like  the  German  Savings  Bank,  which  give  promise 
of  safety  for  their  funds.  Similarly,  policy-holders  of  fire  and 
life  insurance  companies  should  be  heedful  to  deal  only  with 
companies  such  as  the  Aachen  &  Munich  and  the  Penn  Mutual 
Life  that  give  similar  assurance. 

BANKERS    OF    GERMAN    BLOOD 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  extreme  regret  to  persons  who 
opposed  the  hazardous  Morgan  loan  to  the  Allies,  that  in  the 
announcement  made  by  the  Morgans,  there  should  have  been 
included  as  underwriters,  certain  banking  houses,  the  members 
of  which  are  of  German  origin,  such  as  Heidelbach,  Ickelheimer 
&  Co.,  Hallgarten  &  Co.,  Ladenburg,  Thalmann  &  Co.,  and  J.  & 
W.  Seligman.  Such  bankers  should  have  recalled  the  statement 
issued  by  Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  explaining  why  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Co. 
could  not  participate  in  the  loan,  namely,  that  assurances  would 
not  be  given  by  the  Morgans  that  the  funds  thus  used  would  not 
be  in  part  handed  over  to  the  Russians.  Certainly,  patriotic 
Americans  would  not  share  in  such  a  loan  in  the  interest  of  a 
race  that  perpetrated  the  pogroms  of  Kishinef  and  Gomel,  and 
so  outraged  the  feelings  of  this  country  that  it  ended  its  com- 
mercial treaty  with  the  Romanoff  brutes.  How  far  more  bitterly, 
then,  must  men  of  German  blood  feel  toward  the  Russian  race 
responsible  for  the  foul  crimes  committed  by  barbarous  Cossacks 
in  East  Prussia. 

But  it  was  thought  that  there  was  still  another  reason  why 


RED    LIGHTS    AHEAD!  87 

bankers  of  German  origin  would  not  share  in  the  loan.  Such 
bankers  must  remember  that,  about  six  short  months  ago,  the 
English  government  announced  officially  that  any  Englishman 
would  be  found  guilty  of  treason  if  he  traded  icith  a  foreign 
banking  house  that  had  a  German  partner.  This  was  done  to 
ruin  German  bankers.  But  the  effect  was  opposite.  England 
found  herself  ruined,  and  had  to  come  to  the  German  bankers, 
hat  in  hand,  begging  them  to  lend  her  money  at  six  per  cent., 
giving  as  security  a  first  mortgage  on  the  British  Empire. 
Bankers  of  German  origin,  who  shared  in  the  Morgan  loan, 
must  have  shorter  memories  than  other  men  of  German  blood. 


IX. 

THE    "AMERICAN"    PILGRIMS 

On  the  night  of  September  30th,  1915,  I  saw,  in  a  hotel  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  a  Memorial  *  that  will  yet  thrill  the  world.  I 
heard  the  story  of  the  titled  leaders  of  a  race  who  had  provoked 
a  war,  but  found  that  their  own  people  would  not  fight  for  them. 
So  these  men  brought  mercenary  savages  into  a  white  man's 
country  to  wage  a  barbarous  warfare. 

But  these  titled  men  feared  the  condemnation  of  the  world, 
so  in  order  to  forestall  all  censure,  they  selected  from  amongst 
them  a  man  who  bore  a  once  honored  name,  and  whose  words 
might  carry  weight  abroad.  Upon  him  they  urged  an  infamous 
task.  He  shuddered — but  obeyed.  He  made  charges  f  against 
the  enemies  of  his  race,  so  as  to  alienate  from  them  the  sympathy 
of  the  world.  But  when  proofs  of  his  infamy  were  produced,  he 
concocted  other  charges,^  that  the  Memorial  might  not  be  be- 
lieved. 

The  Memorial  that  I  saw  that  night  showed  photographs  of 
men  staring  into  vacancy,  with  surgeons '  stitches  over  sightless 
orbs.  They  were  wounded  men,  whose  eyes  had  been  cut  out  by 
black  savages,  with  special  daggers  with  which  their  masters  had 
provided  them  for  this  purpose,  fastened  in  the  sheath  of  their 
sidearms. 

There  are  some  thoughts  that  cannot  be  uttered  in  words. 
I  confess,  I  staggered  from  the  room  in  that  hotel,  with  a  groan 
in  my  heart  at  the  thought  that  a  race  of  white  men  could  be 
so  vile. 

I  descended  the  stairway,  and  as  I  passed  along  the  carpeted 
hall,  there  was  a  faint  burst  of  cheering  as  one  of  the  side  doors 
opened.  The  sound  affected  me  unpleasantly.  I  wondered  that 
men  could  laugh. 


*  Foreign  Office,  Berlin,  July  30.  1915.  Suppressed  by  newspapers  in 
New  York  at  request  of  Wall  Street  bankers,  since  it  might  awaken 
sympathy  for  the  Germans,  and  thus  frustrate  the  billion-dollar  loan 
to  the  Allies. 

t  Bryce — Belgian  atrocity  charges. 

$  Bryce — Armenian  atrocity  charges. 

88 


THE    "AMERICAN"   PILGRIMS  89 

At  my  questioning  glance,  an  attendant  who  was  passing, 
said:  "It's  a  banquet,  sir.  One  of  the  finest  we've  ever  given. 
Would  you  like  to  see  it?" 

He  opened  the  door  through  which  the  cheering  had  pene- 
trated, and  mechanically  I  followed  him.  A  cloud  of  hot,  smoke- 
laden  air  met  my  face  as  I  entered  upon  a  mezzanine  balcony. 
Below  me  'four  hundred  men  were  seated  at  tables  in  a  great 
apartment. 

The  last  course  had  been  served.  Pale-faced  waiters  were 
removing  from  stained  table  cloths  the  wax  lights,  sparkling 
beneath  their  pink  silk  shades.  Wine  men,  with  service  chains 
about  their  necks,  were  filling  the  glasses. 

At  the  guests'  table  an  aged  man  arose,  with  a  wine  glass  in 
his  upraised  hand.  I  recognized  him  as  a  corporation  lawyer, 
whom  I  have  met  in  Wall  Street  for  many  years.  His  lips 
opened,  and  he  spoke.  At  his  words  I  started  back  as  though 
I  had  felt  the  crack  of  a  whip  in  my  face. 

For  this  Wall  Street  lawyer  said  :"I  propose  three  cheers  for 
the  King  of  England." 

An  outburst  of  cheering  succeeded.  Men  grew  mad.  They 
pounded  on  the  tables.  Bottles  and  chairs  were  overthrown. 

The  Wall  Street  lawyer  motioned  for  silence.  Again  he  began 
to  speak :  "  I  arn  an  old  bencher  of  the  Middle  Temple,  London. 
You  all  know  Lord  Bryce,  for  no  man  ever  lived  in  America 
who  made  himself  more  honored.  Some  of  us  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  have  something  more  said  in  this  war,  something  more 
done,  a  protest  when  the  invasion  of  Belgium  occurred.  You 
have  read  his  reports  of  the  acts  against  those  men,  and  you 
have  read  his  recent  appeal.  Putting  these  two  reports  of  his 
together,  with  the  two  nations  whom  he  indicted,  they  are  exactly 
alike.  If  you  scratch  one  of  them,  you  find  the  blood  of  the 
other  underneath.  There  is  no  possibility  of  distinguishing  them 
in  character  or  conduct.  Constantly,  daily  and  nightly,  I  am 
sympathizing  with  the  Allies. ' ' 

Another  wild  outburst  of  applause  ensued. 

These  words  affected  me  strangely.  I  marveled  that  they 
had  been  uttered  on  American  soil.  For  you  see,  on  the  floor 
above,  I  had  just  seen  the  dreadful  indictment  of  the  English 
race — that  they  had  filled  a  lire  in  Europe,  from  the  North  Sea 
to  the  Swiss  frontier,  with  Gurkhas,  Sikhs,  Sepoys,  Turcos, 


90  WAR    PLOTTERS    OP    WALL    STREET 

Goums,  Moroccans  and  Senegalese,  who,  under  the  eyes  of  the 
highest  commanders  of  England,  had  committed  atrocities  which 
set  at  defiance  all  the  usages  of  civilization  and  humanity. 

Leaning  over  the  balcony  railing,  1  eyed  the  speaker  intently. 
I  noticed  that  he  had  grown  very  old.  There  was  a  touch  of 
senility  about  the  lips  of  this  bencher  of  the  Middle  Temple. 

Silence  again  ensued.  Again  the  corporation  lawyer  spoke. 
This  time  his  subject  was  the  $500,000,000  loan  that  had  just 
been  made  to  the  Allies  by  Morgan,  in  forcing  the  use  of  the 
public's  money  in  the  banks  and  insurance  companies  of  the 
country,  which  are  all  under  his  control. 

The  lawyer  said:  "Fourteen  months  the  war  has  been  waged, 
and  I  now  hope  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  of  the  United 
States  who  has  got  a  hundred  dollars  will  invest  it  in  this  loan, 
and,  what's  more,  I  hope  that  this  is  only  the  first  instalment. 
It's  a  great  thing  for  us  to  have  the  opportunity  to  keep,  and  I 
think  that  the  people  here  are  grateful  for  it. 

"Lord  Reading  is  going  back  with  $500,000,000  in  his  pocket, 
lie  has  dealt  splendidly  with  the  American  people." 

An  uproar  of  mad  enthusiasm  succeeded,  writh  wild  cheers  for 
England's  King. 

But  the  words  just  uttered  made  me  ponder.  For  this 
bencher  of  London's  Middle  Temple  had  once  been,  I  knew,  a 
man  of  high  intelligence.  I  felt  assured  that  he  knew  at  least 
as  many  facts  as  I  about  the  loan.  That  Russia  had  lost  sixteen 
of  her  governments  to  the  Germans,  the  most  productive  and 
profitable  sections  of  her  Empire,  thus  destroying  the  chief  re- 
sources of  her  revenue.  That  she  had  defaulted  on  her  vast 
obligations  to  France  and  England,  threatening  impending  bank- 
ruptcy to  both  countries.  That,  since  the  end  of  August,  the 
Bank  of  England's  gold  had  shrunk  $35,900,000,  while  there 
was  a  rapidly  increasing  expansion  of  paper  war  currency  issued 
through  her  joint  stock  banks.* 

Was  it  possible  that  a  man  of  repute  should  urge  the  men, 
women  and  children  of  this  country  to  imperil  their  hard-earned 
savings  in  a  loan  to  bankrupt  foreign  nations  ?  Morgan  and  his 
private  banking  friends,  of  course,  did  not  wish  to  hold  the 
bag  for  the  $500,000,000  credit  they  had  advanced  to  foreigners, 
and  they  were  working  to  unload  upon  the  public  the  bonds 

*  New  York  Evening  Post,  October  7. 


THE    "AMERICAN"    PILGRIMS  91 

whose  flotation  so  far  had  been  a  failure.  But  could  even  a 
corporation  lawyer  of  Wall  Street  thus  urge  ruin  upon  the 
people  qf  the  country  in  which  he  had  made  his  fortune? 

Involuntarily  there  occurred  to  my  mind  the  words  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  when  he  issued  his  neutrality  proclamation  on 
August  6,  1914:  "And  I  do  further  declare  and  proclaim  that 
the  statutes  and  treaties  of  the  United  States  and  the  law  of 
nations  alike  require 'that  no  person  within  the  territory  and 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  shall  take  part,  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  the  said  war,  but  shall  remain  at  peace  with  all 
the  said  belligerents/' 

And  I  asked  myself,  "Who  are  these  men,  so  strong  that  they 
may  with  impunity  defy  the  power  of  the  President  of  our 
country,  and  the  wishes  of  its  people  ?  I  turned  to  the  attendant 
on  the  mezzanine  balcony  and  asked  him :  "Who  are  these  men?" 

Owing  to  the  din  below,  his  lips  came  close  to  my  ear.  He 
whispered :  "  It 's  a  society  they  call  the  American  Pilgrims. ' ' 

Who  are  these  Pilgrims  ?  I  have  since  made  a  study  of  them. 
Their  organization  is  one  of  immense  power,  and  just  now  they 
seem  to  hold  our  country  in  the  hollow  of  their  hands. 

In  the  "Rules"  of  the  handbook  of  the  Society,  which  I 
obtained,  I  found  the  following  given  as  the  purposes  of  the 
organization:  "The  object  of  the  Society  shall  be  the  promotion 
of  the  sentiment,  of  brotherhood  among  the  nations." 

I  shall  now  enumerate  the  members  of  this  great  Society. 
But  before  I  do  so,  I  wish  to  utter  an  appeal  to  my  fellow- 
countrymen  in  the  South,  in  the  Middle  West  and  in  the  West, 
where  American  principles  and  the  belief  in  democracy  still  live. 
I  wish  to  tell  them  that  here  in  the  East  a  powerful  and  unscru- 
pulous aristocratic  plutocracy  has  seized  upon  the  strength  and 
resources  of  our  nation.  Great  English  bankers  nave  been  plot- 
ting here  for  years  to  seize  the  reins  of  government.  So  far, 
these  men  have  succeeded.  They  control  the  banks  of  the  coun- 
try, all  the  institutions  in  which  the  people  have  placed  their 
savings;  they  at  last  control  the  press,  and  can  sway  public 
sentiment  by  means  of  their  corrupt  news  services,  from  one  end 
of  the  country  to  the  other.  They  are  determined  to  throw  the 
financial  resources  of  the  United  States  into  England's  lap  and 
to  force  this  country  into  war  on  the  side  of  that  land  they  love 
better  than  the  country  of  their  professed  adoption. 


92  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Whoso  doubts  my  words,  let  him  look  upon  this  list.  It  is 
taken  from  the  official  handbook  of  the  Society. 

THE    SOCIETY   OF    PILGRIMS 

SIR  CECIL  SPRING-RICE — Britain's  Ambassador. 

J.  PIERPONT  MORGAN — Britain's  war  agent. 

ANDREW  CARNEGIE — British  born ;  making  his  income  from  the 
Steel  Trust's  war  contracts. 

COL.  ROBERT  M.  THOMPSON — President  of  the  Navy  League; 
indicted  and  fined  for  violating  the  Federal  laws. 

LORD  MURRAY,  MASTER  OP  ELIBANK — English  Whip,  who  lost 
his  party's  funds  by  speculating  in  stocks. 

HENRY  P.  DAVISON — Partner  of  Morgan,  Britain's  war  agent. 

THOMAS  W.  LAMONT — Partner  of  Morgan,  Britain's  war  agent. 

JOHN  REVELSTOKE  RATHOM — British  born;  editor  of  the  Provi- 
dence Journal,  mouthpiece  of  the  British  Ambassador. 

ADOLPH  S.  OCHS — Owner  of  New  York  Times;  conducting  Eng- 
lish propaganda. 

OGDEN  MILLS  REID — President  Tribune  Association;  conducting 
English  propaganda. 

GEORGE  GRAY  WARD — Born  in  Hertfordshire,  England. 

BRADLEY  MARTIN — Educated  at  Oxford,  England. 

JAMES  M.  BECK 

JOHN  W.  GRIGGS 

JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE 

~   ~  rWall  btreet  Corporation  Lawyers 

ALTON  B.  PARKER 

FRANCIS  LYNDE  STETSON 

FREDERIC  R.  COUDERT 

GEORGE  T.  WILSON — Vice-President  Equitable  Life  Assurance 

Society. 
PLINY  FISK 
FRANCIS  L.  HINE 

ALBERT  H  WIGGIN  j,Underwriters  of  the  $500,000,000  loan. 

FRANK  A.  VANDERLIP 

ALVIN  W.  KRECH 
A.  BARTON  HEPBURN 

Let  us  now  analyze  the  acts  of  these  sham  Americans,  and  see 
how  they  have  made  sport  during  the  last  year  of  the  American 
people. 


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94  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Sir  Cecil  Spring-Rice  certainly  is  a  typical  American  Pilgrim. 
He  has  been  plotting  for  the  last  fourteen  months  with  his  Eng- 
lish secret  service  men  to  discredit  his  fellow  Ambassadors  from 
belligerent  countries.  And  in  this  he  has  used  Lansing  as  his 
little  woolly  lamb. 

We  see  that  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  the  English  banker,  founder 
and  controller  of  the  New  York  Peace  Society,  the  American 
Peace  and  Arbitration  League,  the  Navy  League  and  the  Na- 
tional Security  League,  now  also,  with  his  partners,  has  full 
swing  in  the  Society  of  the  Pilgrims  of  the  United  States.  Just 
as  his  two  peace  societies  are  shams,  since  they  do  not  work  for 
peace,  and  as  his  defense  societies  are  shams,  since  they  are 
working  only  to  put  $500,000,000  in  his  capacious  pockets,  so  the 
Society  of  Pilgrims,  ostensibly  founded  to  i '  promote  brotherhood 
among  the  nations,"  is,  as  is  plainly  evident  from  the  aged 
Choate's  address,  operating  to  promote  hatred,  if  not  war, 
between  this  country  and  the  Central  Powers  of  Europe. 

And  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  patriotism  of  Colonel  Robert 
M.  Thompson,  President  of  the  Navy  League  ?  He  demands  that 
the  Federal  Government  expend  $500,000,000  on  armament,  so 
that  the  munitions  plants  of  himself  and  his  friends  in  Wall 
Street  may  prosper.  Yet  this  man  violated  the  laws  of  the 
Federal  Government  when  he  cornered  cotton,  in  the  endeavor 
to  make  this  necessary  commodity  more  expensive  to  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  this  country.  Will  the  Federal  Government 
listen  to  this  lawbreaker  now?  Do  the  members  of  the  Navy 
League  believe  that  he  is  a  patriotic  leader  for  them  to  follow? 

Then  we  come  to  English  propagandists.  It  is  an  interesting 
subject.  Here  we  find  three  American  Pilgrims,  one  of  whom  is 
John  Revelstoke  Rathom,  born  in  Britain,  but  who,  like  so  many 
of  his  countrymen  to-day,  finds  it  safer  to  fight  Germans  on  this 
side  of  the  water  than  to  go  to  the  front.  This  man  Rathom  is 
the  mouthpiece  of  the  British  Ambassador.  What  spies  learned 
in  their  campaign  of  persecution  against  the  British  Ambas- 
sador's colleagues  in  Washington  was  featured  as  "news"  by 
this  editor  of  the  Providence  Journal.  In  turn,  Rathom  deliv- 
ered his  "news"  to  his  two  fellow  Pilgrims,  Adolph  S.  Ochs,  of 
the  New  York  Times',  and  Ogden  Mills  Reid,  of  the  New  York 
Tribune.  And  how  these  three  "American"  Pilgrims  have  had 
the  laugh  on  the  American  public  for  the  last  fourteen  months. 


THE    "AMERICAN"    PILGRIMS  95 

While  they  were  prosecuting  their  English  propaganda  under 
the  direction  of  Rathom,  the^  English  editor,  their  columns  were 
filled  with  animadversions  against  the  dreadful  "German  prop- 
aganda/' They  well  might  say,  as  I  have  heard  they  said: 
"Englishmen  are  so  clever,  you  know,  while  the  Americans  are 
so  very  dull." 

We  see  among  these  Pilgrims,  who  cheered  so  frantically  for 
the  King  of  England  and  the  $500,000,000  war  loan,  an  alarming 
number  of  Wall  Street  corporation  lawyers.  Most  of  them  have 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  English  propaganda.  Many  of  them 
are  directly  interested  in  the  war  munitions  companies,  and  cor- 
porations associated  with  them.  But  what  is  still  more  alarming 
is  that  a  great  number  cf  them  are  trustees  of  the  great  life 
insurance  companies  of  the  country.  There  is  Mr.  Choate,  who, 
as  we  have  seen,  says  that  the  $500,000,000  loan  is  only  the  "first 
instalment, ' '  and  who  gloats  over  the  fact  that  Lord  Reading  is 
going  back  with  $500,000,000  in  his  pocket.  Yet  this  aged 
lawyer,  who  was  educated  at  Oxford,  is  trustee  of  the  Equitable 
Life  Assurance  Society.  There  is' James  M.  Beck,  who  has  made 
himself  the  apologist,  if  not  the  press  agent,  for  England,  trustee 
of  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company.  There  is  Alton  B. 
Parker,  also  trustee  of  the  Equitable.  And  among  those  Pil- 
grims on  that  shameful  night  was  even  the  vice-president  of  the 
Equitable  Life,  Mr.  George  T.  Wilson. 

It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  great  moment  to  Americans  that 
men  who  avowedly  would  sacrifice  the  best  interests  of  their 
country  for  a  foreign  land,  should  have  control  of  those  great 
corporations  in  which  are  invested  the  savings  of  the  American 
people.  There  is  no  assurance  or  guaranty  that  the  funds  of 
those  institutions  are  not  being  surreptitiously  used  in  the 
hazardous  loan  to  warring  countries,  whose  credit  has  waned 
and  who  may  repudiate  their  obligations. 

We  find  also  among  these  Pilgrims  a  long  list  of  bankers,  the 
heads  of  financial  institutions  that  are  the  underwriters  of  the 
loan.  Since  they  applauded  Choate,  we  must  be  led  to  believe 
that  they  also  regard  this  loan  as  a  "first  instalment/7  and  that 
they  will  try  to  force  further  use  of  the  money  of  their  depositors 
in  advancing  another  billion  to  the  Allies. 

A  serious  feature  of  the  situation  is  the  truculent  attitude 
these  bankers  have  suddenly  assumed,  under  the  tutelage  of 


96  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF   WALL    STREET 

Morgan,  to  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  loan.  They  bitterly 
term  such  persons  who  disagree  with  their  views,  "hyphens," 
" German- Americans, "  "Teutons."  In  their  blind  worship  of 
England,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  strike  at  their  own  countrymen. 
I  shall  instance  some  of  the  recent  actions  of  these  bankers  in 
New  York  City.  One  bank  president,  when  questioned  by  his 
depositors  whether  he  was  using  their  funds  for  the  purposes  of 
the  loan,  angrily  instructed  them  to  remove  their  accounts  from 
his  bank.  Another  incident  I  shall  quote  bodily  from  the  Times 
of  October  7th: 

"One  instance  was  reported  in  which  the  committee  of  100 
called  on  a  large  savings  bank  to  serve  notice  that  if  that  bank 
deposited  any  part  of  its  funds  in  institutions  helping  in  the 
flotation  of  the  loan,  all  German- American  depositors  would  be 
asked  to  close  out  their  accounts.  The  President  of  the  savings 
bank  said  that  it  was  true  that  he  had  funds  in  some  of  the 
State  and  national  banks  known  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the 
loan.  '  Also, '  he  is  reported  to  have  told  the  committee,  i  we  hold 
mortgages  on  about  5,000  homes  of  German- Americans,  and  if 
you  want  to  make  a  test  of  the  matter,  we  shall  begin  insisting 
on  the  payment  of  all  of  these  mortgages  as  they  come  due.'  : 

Here  we  see  an  English  banker  deliberately  coercing  his 
depositors  into  the  commission  of  an  unneutral  act,  and  threat- 
ening them,  if  they  disobey  him,  with  foreclosing  the  mortgages 
on  their  homes.  This  is  undeniably  the  most  scandalous  story 
ever  recorded  in  the  banking  history  of  New  York  State.  This 
man  says  to  his  depositors:  "I  shall  use  your  money  as  I  see 
fit.  If  you  dare  to  object  I  shall  drive  you  from  your  homes." 
And  this  he  said  in  spite  of  the  warning  of  the  Pujo  Committee, 
that  bankers  and  financiers  must  not  use  the  money  of  public 
institutions  in  their  operations  as  though  it  were  their  own. 

Further  comment  is  needless.  •  Does  not  this  prove  clearly 
how  we  have  become  subjects  of  a  pro-British  group  of  pluto- 
crats, who  sneer  at  the  wishes  of  the  public,  and  force  it  to  do 
their  will  ? 

The  end  is  not  yet  to  the  shameful  history  of  the  Allies '  loan. 
To  date  the  immense  flotation  has  been  a  failure,  in  spite  of 
heavy  advertising,  the  puffing  of  Wall  Street  newspapers  and  the 
great  campaign  of  publicity  inaugurated  by  Morgan,  who  is 
desperately  anxious  to  unload  upon  the  people  the  bonds  which 


THE   "AMERICAN"   PILGRIMS  97 

he  and  his  private  bankers  underwrote.  False  stories  of  "  vic- 
tories ' '  for  the  Allies  were  brazenly  published  in  order  to  hurry 
the  completion  of  the  loan.  But  consternation  struck  the  bank- 
ing group  when  the  news  came  that  Bulgaria  had  joined  the 
Central  Powers.  The  collapse  of  Russia  has  evidently  swung  the 
Balkan  states  into  line  with  Germany.  Is  it  the  beginning  of 
the  end? 

This  episode,  however,  was  fatal  for  Morgan.  He  betrayed 
the  frightened  state  of  his  feelings  on  October  8th,  when  he 
hastily  summoned  eight  hundred  bond  salesmen  from  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Pittsburgh.  He  gathered  these  men 
in  the  Waldorf-Astoria,  and  in  a  personal  appeal,  he  besought 
them  to  make  a  determined  campaign  in  hawking  the  bonds 
among  their  acquaintances,  to  unload  them  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible. And  Morgan  even  told  them  what  arguments  to  use,  in 
convincing  the  American  people  that  England  and  France  would 
not  dare  to  repudiate  the  obligations,  since,  to  use  his  own 
words:  "They  may  need  to  come  to  us  again. " 

I  think  that  enough  has  been  shown  here  to  demonstrate  the 
great  peril  to  our  country  of  this  sinister  organization,  the 
Pilgrims  of  the  United  States.  And  again  I  address  myself  to 
my  fellow-countrymen  in  the  South,  the  Middle  West  and  the 
West  to  caution  them  and  to  warn  them  of  the  dreadful  con- 
sequences that  will  undoubtedly  ensue  if  this  English  banking 
group  of  Wall  Street,  under  the  guidance  of  its  unscrupulous 
corporation  lawyers,  is  permitted  to  continue  in  power.  Their 
co-ordinated  operations  are  of  so  menacing  a  character,  their 
combined  power  is  so  vast,  their  control  of  public  funds  so 
immeasurable,  that  if  we  do  not  combine  against  this  association 
of  foreigners,  a  catastrophe  will  certainly  come  upon  our  country 
that  has  no  parallel  in  history. 


X. 

THE   MEN  WHO   TOASTED   THE    CZAR. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  was  a  guest  in  one  of  the  leading  clubs  of 
Philadelphia.  We  sat  at  a  table  in  the  grill  room.  One  of  my 
friends  related  a  shameful  story.  It  was  the  life  story  of  a  man 
who  had  won  a  nation-wide  reputation  as  a  philanthropist.  He 
was  the  reputed  owner  of  a  great  newspaper,  through  which  his 
beneficences  flowed.  One  day  a  will  was  probated  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  it  was  then  revealed  that  the  man  who  had  been 
regarded  throughout  the  country  as  a  generous  benefactor  had 
been  merely  the  tool  of  a  powerful  banker,  who  had  used  him, 
under  the  guise  of  philanthropy  to  work  his  own  ends.  When 
this  will  was  probated,  the  revelations  broke  the  heart  of  the 
philanthropist,  and  he  died. 

The  philanthropist  I  mention  was  George  W.  Childs.  The 
banking  family  bears  the  name  of  Drexel. 

I  left  the  club  that  night  and  walked  down  Broad  Street. 
The  blood  had  surged  to  my  face,  and  my  ears  were  ringing.  I 
had  said  nothing  when  I  heard  that  story,  but  alone,  with  only 
the  black  night  and  the  deserted  street  between  me  and  rny 
thoughts,  I  knew  how  that  tale  had  burned  into  my  heart.  For, 
you  see,  I  was  born  in  Philadelphia.  A  man  loves  the  place 
where  he  was  born  and  I  had  just  listened  to  my  native  city's 
shame. 

And  the  name  of  Drexel  had  recalled  so  very  much  to  my 
mind.  In  1904,  when  I  first  went  to  Wall  Street,  that  name  was 
cut  in  marble  over  the  door  of  a  great  banking  house  at  the 
corner  of  Wall  and  Broad  Streets,  "J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company, 
in  the  Drexel  Building. "  Young  Morgan  has  built  a  new  house, 
and  the  name  of  Drexel  has  vanished.  But  sons  of  the  Drexel 
family  are  fighting  at  the  front  in  France  with  Turcos  and 
Senegal  negroes,  to  wipe  out  the  race  from  which  their  father 
sprang,  for  Drexel  was  of  German  blood. 

And  I  could  not  help  exclaiming :  ' '  There  is  infamy  in  every- 
thing connected  with  the  name  of  Morgan. "  For  Drexel  had 

98 


THE    MEN    WHO    TOASTED    THE    CZAR  99 

been  the  Elder  Morgan's  partner.  When  his  puppet,  Childs, 
died,  A  MASK  HAD  DROPPED,  AND  HIS  COUNTRYMEN 
KNEW  HIM  FOR  WHAT  HE  WAS. 


THE    BANQUET   OF    THE   BANKERS 

An  extraordinary  scene  occurred  in  the  banquet  room  of  the 
Hotel  Knickerbocker  on  the  afternoon  of  October  1st,  1915.  Two 
hundred  men  assembled  there  at  a  luncheon  given  to  the  foreign 
bankers  who  had  come  to  this  country  at  the  invitation  of  J.  P. 
Morgan,  England's  war  agent,  to  receive  the  $500,000,000  credit 
for  the  war  munitions  sent  to  England,  France  and  Russia,  which 
those  countries  found  themselves  unable  to  pay. 

At  this  dejeuner,  a  toastmaster  arose.  His  name  is  William 
D.  Guthrie.  He  is  a  Wall  Street  corporation  lawyer,  whom  I 
have  known  for  many  years.  In  Who's  Who,  Mr.  Guthrie  has 
given  this  information  about  himself:  "Educated  in  Paris  and 
England."  And  at  the  dejeuner,  speaking  in  the  French  tongue, 
this  Wall  Street  corporation  lawyer  made  this  remarkable  state- 
ment, to  which  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  every  American 
citizen : 

(Reported  from  the  New  York  Sun  of  October  2nd,  the  organ 
of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan.) 

(Words  of  William  D.  Guthrie)  : 

"That  country  (France),  according  to  reliable  historians, 
having  expended  in  behalf  of  the  American  colonies,  between 
1776  and  1781,  the  great  sum  of  $772,000,000,  for  which  she 
afterward  refused  payment,  it  was  time  now  for  the  United 
States  to  create  a  credit  for  the  French  Republic  to  a  similar 
amount  to  be  repaid  when  France  can  do  so." 

"These  words  of  the  speaker,  the  climax  of  an  impassioned 
address,  aroused  every  man  present  and  profoundly  affected  M. 
Octave  Homberg  and  M.  Ernst  Mallett,  the  French  commis- 
sioners." (Still  quoted  from  Morgan's  Sun.) 

The  two  French  commissioners  were  impressed.  AND  NO 
WONDER, 

What  shocking  debtors  we  Americans  are!  And  we  never 
suspected  until  Guthrie  (educated  in  Paris  and  England),  in- 
formed us  that  we  owed  Frenchmen  the  sum  of  $772,000,000. 

Now  you  know  I  had  always  had  a  much  different  impression 


z 

2 
I 


I 


100 


THE    MEN    WHO    TOASTED    THE    CZAR        101' 

of  our  obligations  to  France,  but  that  is  probably  due  to  the 
fact  that  I  was  not  "educated  in  Paris  and  England/'  and 
merely  went  to  the  little  country  school  in  northern  Kentucky, 
where  I  received  my  primal  education.  I  recall  quite  plainly 
our  little  country  school  ma'am  apprising  us  of  the  fact  that, 
during  the  French  and  Indian  War,  the  French  race  in  this 
country  incited  the  savage  Indian  tribes  upon  us  and  with  their 
aid,  massacred  the  white  inhabitants  of  North  America.  This 
is  a  national  trait  of  the  French  race,  which  may  be  recognized 
to  this  day,  for,  instead  of  fighting  their  own  battles  in  their 
native  land,  they  have  imported  thousands  of  African  Turcos 
and  Senegal  negroes  to  defend  their  land  against  the  Germans. 

THE   TWO   HEROES 

Furthermore,  I  have  walked  up  Riverside  Drive,  in  New 
York,  and  seen  the  bronze  statues  erected  there  to  the  heroes  of 
the  American  race,  who  have  fought  for  and  saved  the  integrity 
of  the  country..  And  there,  in  vain  I  looked  for  tributes  to 
Frenchmen,  Englishmen,  Russians,  Italians,  Servians,  Belgians. 
No,  I  could  see  only  two  bronze  statues  erected  to  two  men  who 
fought  for  their  country  in  the  Civil  War,  and  shame  to  tell  it, 
BOTH  OF  THEM  WERE  GERMANS— GENERAL  CARL 
SCHURZ  AND  GENERAL  FRANZ  SIGEL. 

Nevertheless,  the  Wall  Street  corporation  lawyer  asked  his 
audience  to  arise  and  drink  to  his  toast :  * '  The  King  of  England, 
the  King  of  Belgium  (betrayed  by  the  English),  the  President  of 
France  (whom  the  English  have  failed  to  help),  the  King  of 
Italy  (who  betrayed  his  Allies,  and  now  betrays  the  English), 
and  the  RUSSIAN  CZAR." 

Yes,  incredible  as  it  may  seem  to  us  Americans,  Guthrie 
toasted  the  Russian  Czar.  And  the  New  York  Sun  records  the 
fact  that,  by  the  men  present,  the  toast  was  "enthusiastically 
drunk." 

THE    MEN   WHO   TOASTED   THE   RUSSIAN    CZAR 

The  same  newspaper  recorded  the  men  who  were  conspicuous 
by  their  presence  at  the  dejeuner,  and  wrho  toasted  the  Russian 
Czar: 

HENRY  CLEWS — Born  in  England,  President  of  the  American 
Peace  and  Arbitration  League. 


102  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

ROBERT  A.  C.  SMITH — Chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  .Vhite  Rock  Mineral  Water  Company.  Director  of  the 
Holmes  Electric  Protection  Company. 

ROBERT  UNDERWOOD  JOHNSON — Vice-President  of  the  New 
York  Peace  Society,  of  which  Andrew  Carnegie  is  President. 

JOHN  HARSEN  RHOADES — Trustee  of  tli?  Greenwich  Savings 
Bank. 

ROBERT  BACON — Director  of  the  Steel  Trust.  Trustee  of  the 
Bank  for  Savings.  Former  member  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.  Once 
Ambassador  to  France. 

THOMAS  W.  LAMONT — Partner  of  J.  P.  Morgan,  England's 
war  agent. 

BRADLEY  MARTIN — Educated  at  Oxford,  England.  Director 
Metropolitan  Trust  Company.  Director  Security  Bank,  New 
York. 

LEWIS  L.  CLARKE — Secretary  of  Morgan's  Navy  League. 
Director  of  the  American  Locomotive  Company. 

ALTON  B.  PARKER — Director  of  the  Equitable  Life  Assurance 
Society.  Wall  Street  corporation  lawyer.  Vice-President  of 
Morgan's  National  Security  League. 

PAUL  FULLER — Member  of  the  firm  of  Coudert  Brothers, 
counsel  for  the  French  government. 

OGDEN  MILLS  REID — President  New  York  Tribune  Associa- 
tion. 

FRANK  A.  VANDERLIP — President  National  City  Bank.  Di- 
rector of  the  Farmers'  Loan  &  Trust  Company. 

ELBERT  H.  GARY — Chairman  of  the  Steel  Trust. 

MICHEL  OUSTING w — A  subject  of  the  Czar's. 

TAKASHI  NAKAMUDA — America's  yellow  friend  ( ?). 

WILLIAM  D.  GUTHRIE — Educated  in  Paris  and  England. 
Wall  Street  corporation  lawyer. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  stalking  horse  of  Drexel,  Morgan's 
partner,  THE  MASK  HAS  DROPPED,  AND  OUR  COUN- 
TRYMEN KNOW  THEM  FOR  WHAT  THEY  ARE. 

Yes,  these  are  the  men  who  toasted  the  Czar !  To  me  it  seems 
a  dreadful  thing  to  toast  the  Czar,  and  yet  I  am  not  a  Russian 
Pole.  Poor  Polish  race,  poor  Polish  Jews,  victims  of  the  pogroms 
of  Kishinef  and  Gomel.  The  Russian  Czar,  the  Romanoff,  sprung 
from  the  loins  of  a  fanatic  priest,  now  the  mental  slave  to  an 
ignorant  peasant  pope.  Is  it  possible  for  a  citizen  of  our  great 


THE    MEN    WHO    TOASTED    THE    CZAR         103 

Republic  to  drink  health  and  success  to  the  man  whose  Cossacks 
lash  their  whips  on  the  backs- of  Russia's  Slavic  workmen? 

Xo!  For  it  is  we,  the  Americans,  who  abrogated  our  com- 
mercial treaty  with  the  Romanoffs  because  they  would  not  respect 
the  passports  of  American  citizens,  because  we  could  bear  no 
longer  the  recital  of  the  outrages  of  the  Black  Hundreds. 

So  what  do  those  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Slavic  workmen, 
the  Poles,  the  Polish  Jews,  who  have  become  our  citizens,  think 
of  these  men  who  TOASTED  THE  RUSSIAN  CZAR?  "What 
do  the  Americans  who  worked  for  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty 
with  Russia  think  of  the  men  who  TOASTED  THE  RUSSIAN 
CZAR  ?  What  does  the  man  with  human  sympathy  and  human 
love  think  of  the  men  who  TOASTED  THE  RUSSIAN  CZAR? 

What  do  the  thirty  millions  in  this  country,  sprung  from 
German  blood,  think  of  the  men  who  TOASTED  THE  RUSSIAN 
CZAR  ?  To  these  I  shall  merely  give  a  hint  of  the  dreadful  story 
that  shall  yet  break  upon  the  world,*  of  the  dreadful  deeds 
performed  by  England 's  ally  in  East  Prussia,  of  the  massacre  at 
Santoppen,  where  twenty-one  innocent  men  and  women  were 
dragged  from  church  and  shot  by  brutal  Cossacks ;  of  the  women 
burned  to  death  in  the  village  of  Dembenofen,  of  the  outrages  in 
Ortelburg  and  Bischof stein ! 

THE    CASE   OF    HENRY    CLEWS 

The  list  is  headed  by  Mr.  Henry  Clews.  I  once  had  a  differ- 
ent idea  of  this  man,  whom  I  have  known  for  many  years.  Yet, 
as  I  have  investigated  and  followed  the  machinations  of  this 
English  stock  broker  of  Wall  Street,  I  am  amazed  that  he  has 
been  permitted  freely  and  without  public  censure,  for  so  many 
years  to  pursue  his  disloyal  English  propaganda.  Clews,  born 
in  England,  is  in  evidence,  as  we  have  seen,  everywhere  where 
disloyalty  thrives.  We  have  seen  him  years  ago  in  Carnegie 
Hall,  trying  to  force  upon  the  American  people  an  arbitration 
treaty  favoring  England  and  aimed  at  Germany.  We  see  him 
made  President  of  the  American  Peace  and  Arbitration  League, 
backed  by  the  Morgan  group  in  England 's  interest.  We  see  him 
at  public  dinners,  toasting  England's  king  and  EVEN  THE 

*  Report  of  Russian  atrocities  suppressed  by  the  Money  Trust  news- 
papers of  New  York,  and  their  syndicate  services,  for  fear  lest  it  might 
awaken  sympathy  for  Germany  and  defeat  the  loan  for  the  Allies. 


104          WAR   PLOTTERS   OF   WALL    STREET 

RUSSIAN  CZAR,  SINCE  THROUGH  THE  ATROCITIES  OP 
RUSSIA'S  CZAR,  ENGLAND  HOPED  TO  WIN. 

Clews,  naturalized  as  an  American,  I  hope,  has  nevertheless 
worked  for  years  in  the  interest  of  the  country  of  his  birth. 

Mr.  Henry  Clews,  it  was  at  you,  and  Englishmen  like  you, 
that  President  Wilson  aimed  his  words,  when,  on  October  llth, 
he  said,  at  a  public  gathering: 

"Every  political  action,  every  social  action,  should  have  for 
its  object  in  America  at  this  time  to  challenge  the  spirit  of 
America;  to  ask  that  every  man  and  woman  who  thinks  first  of 
America  should  rally  to  the  standards  of  our  life.  There  have 
been  some  among  us  who  have  not  thought  first  of  America,  who 
have  thought  to  use  the  might  of  America  in  some  matter  not  of 
America's  originative.  I  would  not  be  afraid  upon  the  test  of 
'America  first'  to  take  a  census  of  all  the  foreign-born  citizens 
of  the  United  States.  I  am  in  a  hurry  to  have  an  opportunity 
to  have  a  line-up  and  let  the  men  who  are  thinking  first  of  other 
countries  stand  on  one  side — Biblically,  it  should  be  the  left — 
and  all  those  that  are  for  America,  first,  last,  and  all  the  time, 
on  the  other  side." 

Mr.  Clews,  ponder  well  these  words  of  our  President,  of  the 
head  of  the  nation  of  which  you  have  become  an  adopted  citizen, 
and  to  which  you  have  sworn  loyalty.  I  warn  you  in  all  serious- 
ness and  in  the  best  of  good  will,  to  cease  at  once  your  English 
propaganda,  which  you  and  your  fellows  have  been  inciting  for 
so  many  years.  The  days  of  immunity  have  passed,  and  the  day 
of  reprisal  is  in  the  dawn. 

Let  us  stop  to  think  for  a  moment.  Nearly  every  newspaper 
and  magazine  in  this  country  has  been  wrong  in  all  its  predic- 
tions of  the  European  war  for  the  last  fourteen  months.  We 
Americans  have  let  England  steal  our  brains. 

Great  events  are  impending.  A  tremendous  empire  has  gone 
thundering  down  into  the  abyss  of  its  own  making.  Another 
empire  is  crumbling  to  pieces  and  stands  with  outstretched 
hands,  pleading  for  help  from  the  races  it  has  wronged.  A 
sham  republic  is  buried  under  the  debacle  of  its  shame.  An 
embryo  kingdom  has  died  in  still  birth. 

Let  us  gird  up  our  loins  to  meet  the  new  day.  Our  thoughts 
are  all  to  be  changed,  our  ideas  to  be  reversed.  In  the  next 
hundred  years  the  world  shall  advance  more  than  in  the  last  two 
thousand. 


XL 

WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS? 

AY  ALL  STREET  AGAIN  DEFIES  THE  LAW  ix  GAMBLING  WITH  THE 
SAVINGS  OF  THE   AMERICAN  PEOPLE. 

The  Law  _^_^____ _^^  Insurance  Law  of  New  York. 

in  r    o>^"^  Chapter  28  of  the  Consolidated  Laws. 

the  Case   ^  Paragraph  36,  Page  50. 

OFFICERS    AND    TRUSTEES    NOT    TO    BE    PECUNIARILY    INTERESTED   IN 

TRANSACTIONS 

Xo  director  or  officer  of  an  insurance  corporation  doing  busi- 
ness in  this  State  shall  receive  any  money  or  valuable  thing  for 
negotiating,  procuring,  recommending  or  aiding  in  any  purchase 
by  or  sale  of  such  corporation  of  any  property,  or  any  loan  from 
such  corporation,  nor  be  pecuniarily  interested,  either  as  princi- 
pal, co-principal,  agent  or  beneficiary,  in  any  such  purchase }  sale 
or  loan.  .  .  .  Any  person  violating  any  provision  of  this  sec- 
tion shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

Is  it  possible  that  the  same  group  of  Wall  Street  bankers  and 
banking  institutions,  who  were  exposed  by  the  Armstrong  Com- 
mittee in  1905,  and  by  the  Pujo  Committee  in  1913,  are  again 
fastening  their  greedy  hands  on  the  savings  which  the  people  of 
this  country  have  deposited  in  the  great  life  insurance  com- 
panies ? 

Yes,  it  is  true.  Like  birds  of  prey  they  still  gather  about  the 
hoarded  savings  of  the  people.  Restrictive  laws  cannot  drive 
them  away.  State  and  Congressional  investigating  committees 
meet  every  few  years  to  devise  means  to  safeguard  the  people's 
money.  But  the  plotters  of  Wall  Street  laugh  at  such  laws. 
Their  corporation  lawyers  show  them  the  ways  to  evade  all  man- 
made  enactments.  The  Money  Trust  must  juggle  with  the  pub- 
lic's hoard.  Without  it,  it  is  powerless;  with  it  it  is  the  sinister 

105 


106  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

organization  of  conspirators  that  holds  government  and  people 
under  its  ruthless  thumb. 

As  this  is  read  by  the  policyholders  of  the  great  life  com- 
panies, I  warn  them  that,  if  they  value  the  future  and  happiness 
of  their  wives  and  children,  they  must  write  to  their  respective 
congressmen,  calling  attention  to  the  conditions  that  are  here  ex- 
posed, and  urging  the  immediate  punishment  of  those  men  who 
have  betrayed  the  confidence  of  the  public  and  defied  its  laws. 

For  again  Wall  Street  is  gambling  with  the  public  savings, 
and  on  a  scale  hitherto  unprecedented,  FOR  IT  IS  USING 
THE  LIFE  INSURANCE  MONEY  IN  DISPOSING  OF  THE 
$500,000,000  BONDS  WHICH  IT  HAS  FAILED  TO  UNLOAD 
ON  THE  PUBLIC. 

These  bonds  are  unsafe  as  insurance  investments.  They  are 
issued  by  the  countries  of  France  and  England  and  pay  five  per 
cent.  Yet  in  the  open  market  of  Wall  Street  yesterday  (Octo- 
ber 23rd)  these  securities  sold  as  low  as  97^4.  What  high-class 
American  railroad  bond  sells  so  far  below  par  when  paying  five 
per  cent.? 

Five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  St.  Paul  are  selling  at  104^4, 
while  the  first  mortgage  fives  of  England  and  France  are  below 
par. 

And  the  dangerous  Anglo-French  bonds  are  selling  in  Wall 
Street  at  this  ridiculously  low  price,  while  at  this  very  moment 
1,000  bond  salesmen,  personally  hired  by  J.  P.  Morgan-  in  the 
Waldorf-Astoria  Hotel,  are  going  through  the- country  trying  to 
unload  them  at  98.  Wall  Street  bond  houses  and  banks  have  al- 
ready sent  out  more  than  1,000,000  circulars,  unduly  flattering 
the  bonds,  and  it  is  estimated  that  more  than  $500,000  has  al- 
ready been  spent  in  full-page  newspaper  advertisements  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  to  prevent  the  newspapers  from  exposing  this 
tremendous  game. 

Even  corporation  lawyers  and  the  officials  of  great  life  in- 
surance companies  have  boomed  the  bonds  at  public  banquets  in 
New  York.  Joseph  II.  Choate,  trustee  of  the  Equitable  Life,  at 
the  recent  Pilgrims'  dinner  given  to  the  foreign  bankers  at 
Sherry's,  besought  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  country  to 
invest  at  least  $100  in  these  bonds,  and  said  they  represented  only 
a  "first  instalment"  of  further  billions  yet  to  be  loaned  to  Eng- 
land. 


WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS?      107 

Letters  were  addressed  to  the  heads  of  the  leading  life  insur- 
ance companies  of  the  country,  requesting  information  whether 
they  had  invested  their  policy  holders '  savings  in  these  bonds,  and 
desiring  to  know  how  many  millions  of  such  savings  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Morgan  banks  of  Wall  Street,  that  are  the  syndi- 
cate underwriters  to  the  loan,  and  are  now  holding  the  $500,000,- 
000  bonds  secured,  not  by  their  own  money,  but  by  the  public's 
savings. 

We  publish  in  this  story  the  replies  of  these  life  insurance 
president,.  BY  THEIR  WORDS  SHALL  YE  KNOW  THEM. 

At  this  point  I  wish  to  recall  to  public  memory  that,  on  the 
night  cf  September  11,  1915,  a  secret  call  was  issued  by  J.  Pier- 
pont  Morgan  to  the  heads,  officers  and  trustees  of  the  life  insur- 
ance companies  to  assemble  in  his  private  museum,  the  Morgan 
Library,  situated  in  the  rear  of  his  home  on  Murray  Hill,  to  meet 
the  foreign  banking  delegation  sent  here  by  England  and  France 
to  execute  a  loan  of  at  least  a  billion  dollars  for  those  two  warring 
nations. 

How  many  life  insurance  officials  were  present  in  response  to 
Morgan 's  call  ?  I  cannot  tell  you,  for  the  list  of  names  has  been 
kept  secret.  But  I  can  tell  you  that  the  following  men  were  there 
that  night :  Charles  A.  Peabody,  president  of  the  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company :  George  F.  Baker,  trustee  of  the  Mutual 
Life ;  William  A.  Nash  and  Francis  L.  Hine,  directors  of  the 
Home  Life  Insurance  Company;  John  R.  Hegeman,  president  of 
the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company ;  Otto  T.  Bannard  and 
Albert  H.  Wiggiii,  trustees  of  the  Metropolitan  Life,  and  Lewis 
Cass  Ledyard,  one  of  the  three  trustees  of  the  Equitable  Life. 

What  were  these  men,  the  custodians  of  the  people's  savings, 
doing  in  the  library  of  Morgan  that  night  ?  Had  they  forgotten 
that  the  Armstrong  Committee  in  New  York,  and  the  Pujo  Com- 
mittee of  Congress,  only  a  few  years  before,  devised  laws  to 
prevent  the  banks  and  trust  companies  controlled  by  the  Morgan 
group  from  handling  the  life  insurance  funds? 

I  shall  quote  now  the  response  from  Mr.  Charles  A.  Peabody 
to  the  question  of  how  many  millions  of  his  policyholders'  savings 
he  has  invested  in  the  Anglo-French  bonds,  and  how  many  mil- 
lions of  such  funds  are  on  deposit  and  in  the  hands  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Morgan  loan  syndicate.  The  Mutual,  remember,  is 
not  a  proprietary  company.  It  is  the  absolute  property  of  the 


108  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

policyholders,  of  whom  Mr.  Peabody  is  merely  the  representative. 
Read  carefully  his  words : 

PRESIDENT'S  OFFICE 

THE  MUTUAL  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY  OF  NEW  YORK 
Nassau,  Cedar,  Liberty  and  William  Streets 

New  York,  October  19,  1915. 
Dear  Sir : 

Your  letter  in  relation  to  this  company's  investing  funds  in 
the  Anglo-French  loan  has  been  duly  received. 

I  beg  to  say  in  reply  that  the  company  has  purchased  $3,000,- 
000,  par  value,  of  the  bonds  in  question.  We  regard  them  as  a 
sound  investment  and  as  paying  an  exceptionally  high  rate  of 
interest  under  present  conditions.  The  law  and  the  duties  of  the 
trustees  of  the  company  require  that  its  investments  should  be 
made  in  their  best  judgment  and  in  the  interests  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  policyholders.  We  have  policyholders  of  many  na- 
tions and  races  and  in  due  proportion  to  their  holdings  of  our 
obligations  they  are  entitled  to  our  best  judgment  from  the  point 
of  view  of  security  and  interest  rates.  The  interests  of  any  one 
policyholder,  or  of  any  group  of  policyholders,  cannot  properly 
be  used  to  influence  the  company  in  its  judgment  as  to  invest- 
ments, either  in  favor  of  or  against,  a  particular  form  of  in- 
vestment, but  the  interests  of  the  whole  body  must  be  duly 
considered  by  the  company. 

It  is  proper  that  I  should  say  in  connection  with  the  bonds 
to  which  you  refer  that  this  company -on  December  31,  1914  (that 
being  the  date  of  our  latest  annual  statement)  held  among  its 
investments  Government  Bonds  of  Austria  and  Germany  to  the 
amount  of  $5,776,000 ;  it  also  held  a  real  estate  mortgage  in  the 
City  of  Berlin  amounting  to  $150,000.  These  two  amounts, 
together  with  other  investments,  constituted  the  reserves  against 
outstanding  policies  on  the  lives  of  Austrian  and  German  citizens, 
which  at  that  time  amounted  to  about  $21,000,000.  All  of  these 
investments  were  deposited  with  the  Governments  of  Austria  and 
Germany  for  the  protection  of  their  policyholders.  In  England 
and  France  we  had  at  the  same  tinfe  outstanding  policies  on 
the  lives  of  English  and  French  citizens  amounting  to  about 
$95,000,000,  the  reserves  on  which,  held  by  us,  amounted  to 
about  $37,500,000.  Of  this  amount  we  held  English  Government 
Bonds  of  the  par  value  of  $150,861,  and  of  French  Government 
Bonds  we  held  none ;  so  it  would  appear  that  the  Austrian  and 
German  policyholders  have  already  on  deposit  in  their  countries 
the  funds  which  they  have  contributed  to  our  general  assets, 
while  we  hold  about  $37,500,000  contributed  by  the  English  and 


WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS?      109 

French  policyholders  over  and  above  any  investments  in  the 
securities  of  their  respective,  nations.  I  mention  this  particular 
phase  of  the  case  simply  to  make  clear  that  there  might  be  a 
considerable  investment  made  in  the  Anglo-French  Bonds,  with- 
out there  being  any  undue  investment  of  the  company's  funds  in 
such  securities. 

Yours  very  truly, 
(Signed)  CHARLES  A.  PEABODY, 

President. 


I  call  upon  Mr.  Charles  A.  Peabody  to  resign,  and  at  once, 
his  presidency  and  trusteeship  of  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Company,  on  the  grounds  that  he  is  no  longer  conducting  the 
company  in  the  interests  of  its  policyholders. 

This  letter  of  Mr.  Peabody  has  evasion,  disingenuousness  and 
insincerity  in  every  line.  "We  all  know  there  is  no  question  here 
of  the  investments  made  by  the  Mutual  in  England,  France,  Ger- 
many and  Austria  on  behalf  of  its  branches  there,  in  compliance 
with  the  respective  laws  of  those  countries.  The  question  here  is 
raised  by  American  policyholders  as  to  investments  in  the  war 
bonds  of  France  and  England,  made  in  this  country,  and  pur- 
chased from  a  Morgan  bank.  The  $3,000,000  investment  in 
Anglo-French  bonds  has  no  relevancy  with  the  compulsory  in- 
vestments made  by  the  foreign  branches.  Mr.  Peabody  knows 
this  as  well  as  I. 

Mr.  Peabody  states : t '  We  regard  them  as  a  sound  investment 
and  as  paying  an  exceptionally  high  rate  of  interest. "  They  do 
pay  "an  exceptionally  high  rate  of  interest7'  for  government 
bonds,  and  they  are  selling  at  an  exceptionally  low  price,  which 
fact  alone  shows  that  they  are  not  a  "sound  investment." 

I  would  ask  Mr.  Peabody  if  he  is  cognizant  of  the  statement 
made  by  Sir  George  Paish,  on  October  14th,  in  London,  the 
highest  financial  authority  of  the  British  Empire :  ' '  England  is 
carrying  the  financial  burden  of  the  war.  If  we  go  on  spending 
our  money  as  we  are  now,  we  shall  see  another  break  in  American 
Exchange.  This  probably  would  mean  the  suspension  of  specie 
payments,  and  we  should  have  to  tell  the  world  we  were  unable 
to  pay  our  debts." 

Another  break  in  sterling  exchange  has  already  begun.  Will 
England  suspend  specie  payments?  Shall  she  soon  tell  the 
world  she  is  unable  to  pay  her  debts?  Is  this  $3,000,000  in 


110  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Anglo-French  bonds  then  a  "sound  investment"?  Is  Mr.  Pea- 
body  a  better  judge  of  this  investment  than  Sir  George  Paish? 

I  would  say  to  Mr.  Peabody :  You,  sir,  are  a  director  of  the 
following  Wall  Street  financial  institutions  that  are  members  of 
the  Morgan  syndicate  in  the  $500,000,000  Anglo-French  war 
bonds : 

Farmers'  Loan  &  Trust  Company. 

Guaranty  Trust  Company. 

National  Bank  of  Commerce. 

These  institutions  pay  great  dividends  to  their  director- 
stockholders  in  profits  derived  from  their  syndicate  operations. 
I  would  ask  Mr.  Peabody  whether  it  was  in  his  capacity  as 
director  in  these  banks  of  the  Morgan  syndicate  that  he  bought 
the  $3,000,000  bonds  for  the  Mutual  Life,  of  which  he  is  Presi- 
dent and  trustee  ?  In  that  case,  I  wish  to  call  to  his  attention  the 
Insurance  Law  printed  at  the  head  of  this  story : 

Chapter  28,  Par.  36. — "No  director  or  officer  of  an  insurance 
corporation  .  .  .  shall  be  pecuniarily  interested,  either  as 
principal,  co-principal,  agent  or  beneficiary,  in  any  such  sale 
or  loan." 

If  this  is  not  a  violation  of  the  law,  it  surely  is  an  evasion  of 
the  intents  and  purposes  of  the  law  enacted  in  1906  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  New  York. 

The  Morgan  syndicate  buys  its  Anglo-French  bonds  for  96 
and  sells  them  to  the  insurance  companies  at  98.  It  makes  a  huge 
profit.  Before  the  Law  of  1906  was  enacted,  the  Mutual  could 
have  been  a  member  of  the  syndicate  and  have  obtained  its  bonds 
at  96.  But  Paragraph  100  of  the  new  Law  prevents  the  Mutual 
from  syndicate  participations.  Therefore,  the  law,  instead  of 
having  benefited  the  policyholders  of  the  Mutual,  merely  serves 
the  purpose  of  giving  greater  profits  to  the  banking  group  of 
Wall  Street. 

Mr.  Peabody,  to  whom  did  the  two  per  cent,  profit  go  when 
the  Mutual  bought  those  $3,000,000  bondsf  To  the  banks  of  the 
Morgan  syndicate? 

Referring  back  to  Mr.  Peabody 's  letter,  we  see  that  at  the 
request  of  one  of  the  Mutual  policyholders,  who  is  clearly  entitled 
to  learn  what  Mr.  Peabody  is  doing  with  the  policyholders' 
money,  the  President  ABSOLUTELY  IGNORES  THE  MAIN 
QUERY— HOW  MANY  MILLIONS  HAVE  YOU  PLACED 


WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS?      Ill 

ON  DEPOSIT  WITH  THE  BANKS  THAT  ARE  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  MORGAN  SYNDICATE  ? 

Why  does  Mr.  Peabody  refuse  to  answer  this  question?  On 
September  15,  1905;  officials  of  the  Mutual  Life  testified  before 
the  Armstrong  Committee  that  the  Mutual  kept  on  deposit  for 
two  years  with  the  National  Bank  of  Commerce  the  enormous 
sum  of  $7,000,000,  and  kept  still  more  millions  on  deposit  with 
the  First  National  Bank,  Merchants'  Exchange  National  Bank, 
Guaranty  Trust  Company,  United  States  Mortgage  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, Central  Trust  Company,  and  Bank  of  Montreal. 

The  policyholders  of  the  Mutual  Life  are  entitled  to  know 
how  much  of  their  money  is  in  the  hands  of  the  directors  of  those 
companies  which  are  members  of  the  Morgan  syndicate,  and 
being  used  for  the  purposes  of  the  Morgan  gamble  in  the  war 
bonds.  This  question  shall  be  answered,  sooner  or  later.  The 
money  of  life  insurance  companies  cannot  be  imperilled  in  the 
hazardous  syndicate  speculations  of  the  Morgan  group. 

These  same  questions  I  must  address  to  George  F.  Baker, 
Mutual  Life  trustee,  and  director  of  the  First  National  Bank, 
Farmers'  Loan  &  Trust,  Guaranty  Trust — all  members  of  the 
Morgan  war  loan  syndicate. 

I  address  them  to  Charles  S.  Brown,  Mutual  Life  trustee,  also 
director  of  United  States  Mortgage  &  Trust  Company — member 
of  the  Morgan  war  loan  syndicate. 

I  address  them  to  Edwin  S.  Marston,  Mutual  Life  trustee, 
President  of  the  Farmers'  Loan  &  Trust  Company — member  of 
the  Morgan  war  loan  syndicate. 

To  all  those  policyholders  of  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany who  have  written  to  me  from  every  section  of  this  country, 
wishing  to  know  the  facts  which  have  been  just  disclosed,  I  give 
this  advice : 

Write  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Mutual  Life  demand- 
ing— 

The  resignation  of  Charles  A.  Peabody. 

The  withdrawal  immediately  of  every  dollar  of  their  money 
which  has  been  placed  on  deposit  in  the  banks  and  trust  com- 
panies of  the  Morgan  syndicate  for  use  in  the  $500,000,000  war 
loan  gamble. 

The  return  to  the  Morgan  syndicate  of  the  $3,000,000  bonds 
purchased.  Any  reputable  bond  house  is  at  all  times  willing  to 


112  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

take  back  from  the  purchaser  the  bonds  it  has  sold,  and  at  the 
price  at  which  it  sold  them. 

If  these  demands  are  refused,  I  shall  further  advise  the  policy- 
holders  as  to  their  action  in  regard  to  the  Mutual,  for  the  law 
protects  their  interests  in  the  company. 


THE    CASE   OF    THE   EQUITABLE    LIFE    ASSURANCE    SOCIETY 

Statement  sent  to  the  managerial  staff  of  the  Society  by  Mr. 
John  B.  Lunger,  First  Vice-President : 

"Many  of  our  policyholders  have  made  inquiry  whether  we 
have  participated  in  any  of  the  loans  put  out  by  the  countries 
now  at  war  in  Enrope ;  and  doubtless  similar  inquiries  have  been 
made  to  you. 

"No  matter  how  safe  as  an  investment  or  remunerative  such 
loans  may  be  we  feel  that  an  institution  engaged  in  the  conserva- 
tion of  human  life  ought  to  confine  its  investments  to  the  ordinary 
character,  and  therefore  we  have  not  participated  in  any  Euro- 
pean loans  offered  in  this  country  since  the  beginning  of  the 


It  is  a  matter  of  satisfaction  to  the  Equitable  policyholders 
to  learn  that  the  Society  will  buy  none  of  the  war  bonds.  But 
it  is  lamentable,  indeed,  that  no  statement  is  forthcoming  from 
the  Equitable  officials  in  response  to  the  inquiries  as  to  the 
amounts  of  the  surplus  funds  of  the  Society  that  may  be  on 
deposit  with  the  banks  and  trust  companies  of  Wall  Street, 
Morgan's  syndicate  members,  and  thus  used  in  the  flotation  of 
this  $500,000,000  bond  deal.  It  is  disquieting  that  these  great 
life  insurance  concerns  of  Wall  Street  persist  in  maintaining  a 
singular  reticence  on  this  important  question. 

The  Equitable  is  a  proprietary  company,  the  sole  property 
of  one  man,  who  bought  it  on  June  13th  from  Mr.  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan.  This  man  is  General  T.  Coleman  du  Pont,  whose  for- 
tune comes  from  the  manufacture  of  powder,  of  which  a  rich 
harvest  has  been  sent  to  the  Allies  since  the  war  in  Europe  began. 
Three  powerful  trustees  represent  Mr.  du  Pont  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Society — three  men  whom  he  has  so  far  retained  since 
he  bought  control  of  the  property. 

These  trustees  elect  the  directors  of  the  Society,  of  whom 
there  are,  I  believe,  fifty  or  so.  So  it  may  well  be  imagined  what 


WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS?      113 

power  is  exercised  by  these  three  men,  who  hold  in  their  hands, 
so  to  speak,  $525,000,000  of  the  savings  of  the  American  people. 

The  first  of  these  trustees  is  former  Judge  Morgan  J.  0  'Brien, 
a  gentleman  of  probity  and  integrity,  against  whom  no  objec- 
tions have  been  raised. 

The  second  trustee  of  the  Equitable  is  Mr.  Lewis  Cass  Led- 
yard.  Mr.  Ledyard  is  an  old  Morgan  lawyer.  He  is  director  in 
the  United  States  Trust  Company,  one  of  the  syndicate  partici- 
pants in  the  Morgan  bond  loan. 

He  is  now  (October,  1915)  on  trial  in  the  Federal  Courts  of 
this  city,  charged  with  violation  of  the  Sherman  Law,  in  the 
scandalous  New  Haven  case,  he  having  been  a  director  of  that 
railroad  when  the  Elder  Morgan  "financed"  it. 

A  trustee  of  the  Equitable,  the  custodian  of  such  a  volume  of 
the  public  savings,  should  be,  as  Caesar's  wife,  above  suspicion. 
He  was  a  visitor  in  the  Morgan  library  on  that  eventful  night  of 
September  llth.  In  the  present  circumstances  Mr.  Ledyard  is 
absolutely  disqualified  from  being  an  Equitable  trustee,  and 
should  be  at  once  removed. 

The  third  trustee  is  Joseph  H.  Choate,  who  has  reached  an 
extreme  age — eighty-three  years.  As  a  result  of  education  and 
association,  his  tendencies  are  vehemently  English. 

Mr.  Choate,  at  the  dinner  of  the  Pilgrims  to  the  foreign 
bankers,  held  at  Sherry's  on  October  1st,  displayed  his  intense 
pro-English  feeling  in  the  following  words:  "Lord  Reading  is 
going  back  home  with  $500,000,000  in  his  pocket.  And  now  I 
hope  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United  States, 
who  has  got  a  hundred  dollars,  will  invest  it  in  this  loan,  and 
what 's  more,  I  hope  that  this  is  only  the  first  instalment. ' ' 

And  this,  despite  the  fact  that  Sir  George  Paish  had  said 
that  if  England  kept  on  expending  her  resources,  she  would  have 
to  suspend  specie  payments  and  tell  the  world  she  could  no  longer 
pay  her  debts. 

Is  it  to  be  supposed  in  the  circumstances  that  Mr.  Choate  has 
any  more  regard  for  the  savings  of  the  Equitable  policyholders 
than  he  has  for  the  savings  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  in 
this  country? 

Mr.  Choate  is  certainly  not  qualified  to  remain  longer  a  trus- 
tee of  the  Equitable,  a  custodian  of  the  public's  savings. 

Otherwise  the  situation  in  the  Equitable  is  similar  to  that 


114  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET    , 

which  prevails  in  the  Mutual  Life.  Many  Equitable  directors 
are  also  directors  of  the  banks  and  trust  companies  which  are 
participating  in  the  Morgan  loan  syndicate. 

C.  B.  Alexander,  Equitable  Life  director,  is  also  director  of 
the  Equitable  Trust  Company — member  of  the  Morgan  syndicate. 

Henry  W.  de  Forest,  Equitable  Life  director,  is  also  director 
of  the  Metropolitan  Trust  Company,  United  States  Mortgage  & 
Trust,  National  Bank  of  Commerce — all  members  of  Morgan's 
war  loan  syndicate. 

E.  B.  Thomas,  Equitable  Life  director,  is  also  director  of  the 
United  States  Mortgage  &  Trust  Co. — member  of  the  Morgan 
war  loan  syndicate. 

Valentine  B.  Snyder,  Equitable  Life  director,  is  also  director 
of  the  Guaranty  Trust  Company,  National  Bank  of  Commerce — 
both  members  of  the  Morgan  war  loan  syndicate. 

I  would  advise  those  policyholders  of  the  Equitable  who  have 
written  to  me,  that  they  address  General  T.  Coleman  du  Pont, 
asking  him  to  remove  Messrs.  Choate  and  Ledyard  from  their 
trusteeships.  They  should  remember,  however,  that  General 
du  Pont,  as  sole  owner  of  the  Society,  cannot  be  compelled  to 
execute  these  removals  unless  he  wishes  to  do  so. 

However,  the  request  should  also  be  made  upon  General 
du  Pont,  that  if  any  of  the  Equitable  millions  are  on  deposit  with 
the  banks  and  trust  companies  in  the  Morgan  syndicate,  they 
should  at  once  be  withdrawn,  and  in  this  General  du  Pont  can 
be  compelled  to  take  action. 

THE    CASE    OF    THE    METROPOLITAN    LIFE 

We  are  in  receipt  of  the  following  communication  from  Mr. 
John  R.  Hegeman,  President  of  the  Metropolitan  Life: 

THE  METROPOLITAN  LIFE  INSURANCE  Co. 
JOHN  R.  HEGEMAN,  President. 

New  York,  October  18,  1915. 

Dear  Sir: — Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  16th  inst.  This 
Company  is  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  this  State  from  investing 
in  securities  in  countries  in  which  it  does  not  do  business.  It 
does  not  do  business  in  Great  Britain  or  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe.  Yours  truly, 

(Signed)  JOHN  R.  HEGEMAN,  President. 


WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS?      115 

We  see  that  Mr.  Hegeman  also  ignores  completely  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  company  o£  which  he  is  the  proprietor  has  on 
deposit  with  the  banking  institutions  of  the  Morgan  underwriting 
syndicate  any  of  the  millions  which  his  policyholders  have  en- 
trusted to  his  care.  This  question,  so  vital  to  them,  must  be 
answered;  all  the  more  since,  as  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Hegeman 
was  one  of  those  who  went  to  the  Morgan  library  on  the  night 
of  September  llth. 

Conditions  in  the  Metropolitan  Life  also  resemble  those  in 
the  Mutual  and  Equitable  companies.  Many  of  the  trustees  are 
also  officers  or  directors  of  the  banks  and  trust  companies  making 
up  the  syndicate  underwriters  to  the  Morgan  loan. 

Haley  Fiske,  Vice-President  of  the  Metropolitan,  is  also  trus- 
tee of  the  Metropolitan  Trust  Company — member  of  the  Morgan 
syndicate. 

Robert  W.  de  Forest,  director  of  the  Metropolitan  Life,  is  also 
director  of  the  New  York  Trust  Company — member  of  the  Mor- 
gan syndicate. 

Otto  T.  Bannard,  Metropolitan  Life  director,  is  also  President 
of  the  New  York  Trust  Company — member  of  the  Morgan  syn- 
dicate. 

Albert  H.  Wiggin,  Metropolitan  director,  is  also  President  of 
the  Chase  National  Bank,  director  Bankers '  Trust,  director 
Guaranty  Trust,  director  National  Bank  of  Commerce — all  mem- 
bers of  the  Morgan  war  loan  syndicate. 

I  would  advise  the  policyholders  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  to 
address  Mr.  Hegeman  on  this  question,  so  important  to  them, 
whether  funds  of  the  Metropolitan  are  on  deposit  with  any  of 
the  Morgan  syndicate  banks,  of  which  so  many  of  his  directors 
are  officers  and  directors. 

THE    CASE    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    LIFE 

We  publish  the  following  reply  from  the  Second  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Life : 

NEW  YORK  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY 

346  &  348  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK 

Office  of  Second  Vice-President 

October  19,  1915. 

Dear  Sir : — We  are  in  receipt  of  your  'communication  of  the 
16th  instant. 

The  matter  to  which  you  refer  has  never  been  presented  to 


116  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

our  Finance  Committee.  The  policy  of  this  Company  has  always 
been  to  invest  only  enough  in  foreign  securities  to  maintain  our 
reserve  requirements  in  foreign  countries  according  to  law.  We 
have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  investment  policy  of  the  Com- 
pany in  this  respect  will  be  changed  by  our  Finance  Committee. 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  JOHN  C.  Me  CALL, 

Second  Vice-President. 

The  reply  of  Mr.  McCall  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  satis- 
factory, since  he  also  completely  ignores  the  query  whether  his 
company  has  its  surplus  funds  on  deposit  with  the  Morgan  syndi- 
cate underwriters  of  the  $500,000,000  to  the  Allies.  Conditions 
in  this  company  also  resemble  those  of  the  Mutual,  Equitable  and 
Metropolitan  Life  companies.  Directors  of  the  company  are  also 
directors  of  the  banks  and  trust  companies  in  the  Morgan  syndi- 
cate. 

John  G.  Milburn,  New  York  Life  director,  is  also  director  in 
the  National  Park  Bank — member  of  the  Morgan  syndicate. 

A.  Barton  Hepburn,  New  York  Life,  director,  is  also  Chair- 
man Chase  National  Bank,  director  Bankers  *  Trust  Company, 
director  First  National  Bank — all  members  of  the  Morgan  war 
loan  syndicate. 

I  must  advise  the  policyholders  of  the  New  York  Life  to  insist 
upon  a  definite  reply  to  the  question  whether  the  funds  are  being 
held  on  deposit  in  any  of  the  Morgan  syndicate  banks,  where  they 
would  undoubtedly  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  the  $500,000,000 
loan.  The  New  York  Life  is  a  mutual  company,  and  its  policy- 
holders  are  entitled  by  law  to  know  what  the  officers,  their  em- 
ployees, are  doing  with  their  savings  and  surplus. 

THE    PRUDENTIAL    INSURANCE    COMPANY 

We  are  in  receipt  of  the  following  reply  from  the  Prudential : 
FORREST  F.  DRYDEN,  President 

THE  PRUDENTIAL  INSURANCE  COMPANY  OF  AMERICA 
Home  Office,  Newark,  New  Jersey 

October  11,  1915. 

Dear  Sir: — In  answer  to  your  letter  of  October  second,  I 
would  say  that  The  Prudential  Insurance  Company  of  America 
does  not  now  own,  and  has  never  held,  any  securities  of  any 
European  country. 


WHO  IS  USING  OUR  LIFE  INSURANCE  FUNDS?      117 

The  Prudential  is  forbidden  by  law  to  invest  in  the  securities 
of  any  country  where  it  is  ^not  doing  business,  and  it  is  not 
operating  in  any  European  country. 

I  remain,  Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  FORREST  F.  DRYDEN, 

President. 

I  wish  to  reassure  the  anxieties  of  the  Prudential  policy- 
holders.  I  REGARD  THE  PRESIDENT'S  REPLY  AS  SAT- 
ISFACTORY. THE  PRUDENTIAL  HAS  NO  AFFILIA- 
TIONS WITH  THE  MORGAN  WAR  LOAN  SYNDICATE. 


We  are  in  receipt  of  the  following  reply  from  the  Travelers : 

THE  TRAVELERS'  INSURANCE  COMPANY 
SYLVESTER  C.  DUNHAM,  President. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  October  18,  1915. 

The  Travelers  is  a  stock  company  with  a  capital  and  surplus 
of  over  $13,000,000,  by  which  its  obligations  to  its  policyholders 
are  abundantly  secured,  in  addition  to  the  legal  reserves  required 
for  that  purpose.  It  does  not  bear  the  same  relation  to  its  policy- 
holders  that  is  borne  by  a  mutual  company,  but  I  do  not  for 
that  reason  deny  the  right  of  policyholders  to  inquire  for  and 
receive  information  respecting  the  company's  investment  policy, 
which  has  always  been  extremely  conservative  as  the  investments 
of  a  life  insurance  company  should  be. 

The  specific  inquiry  in  yours  of  the  15th  relates  to  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Anglo-French  bonds  about  to  be  issued. 

The  Travelers  will  not  invest  in  them  because  it  is  its  well- 
settled  policy  to  invest  its  resources  in  the  states  and  communities 
from  which  it  derives  its  premium  income.  The  Travelers  trans- 
acts no  foreign  business  except  in  Canada,  and  following  the 
practice  noted,  its  investments  are  limited  to  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  In  Canada  it  makes  only  such  investments  as  are 
required  by  the  laws  of  the  Dominion  for  the  maintenance  of  its 
reserves  for  that  country.  All  the  rest  and  the  vast  majority  of 
its  resources  are  invested  in  the  United  States.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  go  elsewhere  for  such  securities  as  the  Travelers  requires, 
which  are  chiefly  state,  municipal  and  corporate  bonds  and  first 
mortgages  on  real  estate. 

'Signed)  S.  C.  DUNHAM, 

President. 

The  courteous  reply  from  Mr.  Dunham  must  be  HIGHLY 
SATISFACTORY  TO  HIS  COMPANY'S  POLICYHOLDERS. 


118  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

THE  TRAVELERS  HAS  NO  ALLIANCE  WITH  THE  MOR- 
GAN WAR  SYNDICATE. 


THE    CASE    OF    THE    HOME    LIFE    INSURANCE    COMPANY 

We  are  in  receipt  of  the  following  telegram : 

Cincinnati,  0.,  Oct.  26. 

During  cur  absence  from  city  we  noticed  in  recent  issue  that 
you  have  connected  Home  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York 
with  foreign  war  loans.  This  Company  confines  its  business 
solely  to  United  States  and  its  investments  to  American  securities. 
Under  the  law,  companies  which  transact  no  foreign  business  are 
prohibited  from  investing  in  foreign  securities  of  any  nature. 
Please  make  this  correction,  as  above  publication  has  been  the 
cause  of  much  annoyance. 

W.  A.  R.  BRUEHL  AND  SON,  General  Manager. 

I  regret  personally  that  this  publication  has  been  of  annoy- 
ance to  Mr.  Bruehl,  but  I  have  no  correction  to  make.  I 
emphasize  and  repeat:  Messrs.  William  A.  Nash  and  Francis  L. 
Hine,  directors  of  the  Home  Life,  attended  the  conference  in  the 
Morgan  Library  on  the  night  of  September  llth.  Mr.  Hine  is 
closely  identified  with  many  banks  that  are  syndicate  partici- 
pants in  the  Anglo-French  loan. 

I  fear  Mr.  Bruehl  has  sent  his  telegram  to  the  wrong  address. 
He  should  send  it  to  the  President  of  the  Company,  and  ask  him 
to  issue  an  unqualified  denial  that  any  surplus  funds  of  the  Home 
Life  are  on  deposit  in  any  of  the  Morgan  banks  participating  in 
the  Anglo-French  loan. 

When  men  and  women  address  me  from  every  section  of  this 
country,  asking  me  to  advise  them  in  safeguarding  their  savings 
in  the  life  insurance  companies,  on  which  they  depend  as  a 
provision  for  the  future  of  themselves  and  their  families,  I  cannot 
conscientiously  advise  them  to  place  confidence  in  companies 
whose  managing  directors  are  close  associates  of  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan  in  his  syndicate  operations.  What  Morgan  management 
means,  we  have  seen  in  the  N^w  Haven.  Such  life  insurance 
companies  must  clear  themselves  by  unequivocal  statements  that 
not  a  dollar  of  their  policy  holders'  money  is  being  used  for 
syndicate  participations  in  any  of  the  Morgan  syndicate  banks. 


XII 

IS  WALL  STREET  USING  SAVINGS  BANK  DEPOSITS  IX 
SECRET  LOANS  TO  RUSSIA,  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND? 

Probably  nothing  has  so  accentuated  the  growing  distrust  of 
Wall  Street  throughout  the  country  as  the  recent  revelations  that 
many  of  the  great  savings  banks  of  New  York  City  were  again 
keeping  vast  sums  of  their  "surplus  funds"  on  deposit  with  the 
Morgan  banks  and  trust  companies,  whose  officers  were  using 
these  tremendous  accumulations  of  the  people 's  savings  in  wide- 
spread syndicate  operations. 

A  sentiment,  peculiar  and  distinctive,  hedges  about  the 
moneys  deposited  in  savings  institutions.  These  sums  represent 
the  self-denial  of  families,  thrift,  frugality — many  of  the  best 
qualities  of  human  kind.  This  fact  is  recognized  by  the  State, 
which  has  sought  for  many  years  to  so  safeguard  the  savings  of 
the  public  that  they  should  be  immune  to  any  of  the  dangers  the 
human  mind  could  foresee.  The  State  strictly  imposes  on  the 
officers  of  such  institutions,  the  mandate  to  invest  their  funds 
only  in  certain  classes  of  the  safest  securities.  Every  few  years 
these  laws  are  revised  to  enforce  greater  care  in  the  handling  of 
the  funds  of  savings  banks. 

These  precautions  are  taken  to  prevent  the  use  of  the  public 
savings  by  reckless  and  unscrupulous  gamblers.  But  such  is 
human  ingenuity,  when  whetted  by  cupidity,  that  laws  fail  of 
their  purpose  where  vast  sums  of  money  on  public  deposit  are 
concerned.  So  we  see  that  to-day,  again,  the  Wall  Street  bankers 
are  burying  their  arms  to  the  elbows  in  the  funds  which  thrift 
and  self-denial  haye  accumulated. 

It  is  self-evident  that  the  savings  banks  have  no  right  to 
m^ntain  these  huge  "surplus  funds/'  The  deposit  in  Wall 
Street  banks  of  immense  sums  is  merely  an  evasion  of  the  banking 
laws.  The  funds  in  question  should  be  invested  in  safe  securities 
as  ordered  by  the  banking  laws  of  the  State.  They  should  not 
be  permitted  to  accumulate  in  the  great  reckless  gambling  insti- 
tutions of  Wall  Street. 

119 


120  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

What  is  being  done  with  them  there  ?  At  this  very  time  they 
are  being  used  to  make  call  loans  on  the  dangerously  inflated 
war  stocks ;  they  are  being  used  in  the  flotation  of  the  hazardous 
$500,000,000  loan  to  the  Allies ;  they  are  being  used  more  secretly 
in  individual  loans  to  Russia,  France  and  England. 

It  is  a  difficult  matter  for  the  public  to  realize  how  their 
safely  guarded  savings  can  come  into  the  hands  of  the  great 
banking  group  of  Wall  Street,  that  has  been  guilty  of  the  many 
great  financial  evils  from  which  this 'country  has  suffered.  In 
order  to  gain  a  clear  comprehension  of  this  matter  it  is  necessary 
to  observe  the  intermediaries  in  these  transactions,  the  men  who 
act  as  the  connecting  links  between  the  savings  banks  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  syndicate  banks  and  trust  companies  of  the  Morgan 
group  on  the  other. 

It  seemed  a  dreadful  thing  to  contemplate  that  men  of  reputed 
standing  in  New  York  should  be  conscienceless  enough  to  use  the 
funds  entrusted  to  their  care  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
families,  in  Wall  Street's  speculative  gamble  "in  loans  to  half- 
bankrupt  foreign  countries,  to  facilitate  the  sale  of  war  muni- 
tions. So  the  editor  of  this  publication  first  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  savings  banks  of  New  York  telling  the  heads  of  those  insti- 
tutions of  the  floods  of  inquiries  that  'had  reached  this  office 
from  depositors  who  had  been  made  uneasy  by  the  alarming 
rumors  afloat,  and  asking  them  if  they  would  not  issue  statements, 
whether  their  funds  were  being  used  directly  or  indirectly  in  the 
foreign  loans,  and  whether  they  had  on  deposit  with  the  Morgan 
banking  syndicate  any  of  the  money  of  their  depositors  which,  in 
that  case,  could  be  used  in  the  Anglo-French  $500,000,000  loan, 
or  the  less  public  loans  that  are  now  being  made  by  the  syndicate 
to  Russia,  France  and  England  in  the  form  of  ninety-day  accept- 
ances, renewable  at  stated  periods. 

THE    CASE   OF   THE   EXCELSIOR   SAVINGS   BANK 

One  of  the  first  letters  received  was  the  following : 

EXCELSIOR  SAVINGS  BANK  t 

Corner  23rd  Street  and  Sixth  Avenue 

New  York,  Oct.  22,  1915. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  October  21st,  I  beg  to  advise  you 
that  savings  banks  in  the  State  of  New  York  are,  by  the  Banking 


LOANS  TO  RUSSIA,  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND    121 

Laws  of  the  State,  permitted  to  invest  deposits  only  in  securities 
designated  by  such  laws.  The  securities  referred  to  by  you  in 
your  communication  are  not  among  them. 

We  have  not  inquired  of  the  different  banks  and  trust  com- 
panies, where  we  keep  on  deposit  our  reserves,  whether  they  have 
participated  in  the  Anglo-French  loan  or  not.  We  would  not 
keep  our  deposit  in  institutions  where  we  did  not  have  entire 
confidence  in  their  ability  to  invest  their  money  safely,  and  to 
the  best  advantage.  If  we  did  not  have  this  confidence,  we  would 
withdraw7  our  deposits,  and  if  the  depositor  in  any  savings  bank 
has  not  confidence  in  the  management  of  the  institution,  he  should 
close  his  account. 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)  WILLIAM  J.  ROOME, 

President. 


I  must  confess  that  when  this  letter  was  turned  over  to  me 
I  read  it  with  a  feeling  of  distress  at  its  tone  of  flippancy.  I  had 
heard  the  many  stories  now  current,  of  the  presidents  of  savings 
banks,  when  approached  by  depositors  who  had  become  worried 
over  the  banking  situation,  refusing  to  give  them  any  assurances 
how  their  savings  were  being  used,  and  bluntly  telling  them  to 
withdraw  their  accounts  if  they  were  not  satisfied.  I  had  heard 
in  particular  the  one  story  of  the  New  York  savings  bank  Presi- 
dent, who  actually  told  his  inquiring  depositors  that,  if  they 
withdraw  their  accounts,  he  would  foreclose  5,000  mortgages  on 
the  homes  of  American  citizens  if  they  objected  to  the  use  of  their 
money  in  a  foreign  war  loan.  These  stories  seemed  incredible 
to  me,  for  in  all  my  experience  in  the  banking  world,  I  had  never 
encountered  their  like.  In  the  past  days  nothing  could  exceed 
the  courtesy  and  personal  sympathy  with  which  the  bank  official 
met  his  inquiring  depositor.  I  can  account  for  this  change  that 
has  come  over  the  New  York  bankers  only  by  the  pro-foreign 
influence  that  has  been  infused  into  the  banking  world  since  the 
advent  of  the  present  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan. 

Mr.  Roome  lightly  writes  that  he  does  not  know  whether  the 
banks  or  trust  companies  in  which  he  keeps  his  bank's  reserves, 
have  participated  in  the  Anglo-French  loan.  The  reserves  in  his 
bank  are  intended  to  safeguard  the  savings  of  his  depositors. 
Certainly,  he,  as  President,  should  be  keenly  alive  as  to  what  is 
being  done  with  such  reserves,  whether  they  are  being  loaned  on 
war  stocks,  used  in  the  flotation  of  the  Anglo-French  bonds,  or 


122  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

in  the  ninety-day  advances  to  the  Russian  and  French  govern- 
ments. 

I  shall  here  give  Mr.  Roome  the  information  of  which  he 
pleads  ignorance,  namely,  the  banks  and  trust  companies  of  the 
.Morgan  syndicate,  engaged'in  the  transactions  I  have  enumerated 
above : 

THE  MORGAN  SYNDICATE 

AMERICAN  EXCHANGE  NA-  LIBERTY  NATIONAL  BANK 

TIONAL  MANHATTAN  COMPANY 

BANK  OF  AMERICA  MECHANICS  '  AND  METALS  '  NA- 

BANK  OF  NEW  YORK  TIONAL  BANK 

CHEMICAL  NATIONAL  BANK  MERCHANTS  '  NATIONAL 

CHASE  NATIONAL  BANK  NATIONAL  BANK  OF  COMMERCE 

FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK  NATIONAL  CITY  BANK 

HANOVER  NATIONAL  BANK  NATIONAL  PARK  BANK 

IMPORTERS'  AND  TRADERS'  NA-  SEABOARD  NATIONAL  BANK 

TIONAL  UNITED  STATES  MORTGAGE  AND 

IRVING  NATIONAL  BANK  TRUST  Co. 

BANKERS'  TRUST  COMPANY  FARMERS'  LOAN  &  TRUST 

EQUITABLE  TRUST  COMPANY  COMPANY 

GUARANTY  TRUST  COMPANY  METROPOLITAN  TRUST  COMPANY 

TITLE  GUARANTEE  AND  TRUST  UNION  TRUST  COMPANY 

COMPANY  UNITED  STATES  TRUST  COM- 

CENTRAL  TRUST  COMPANY  PANY 

Mr.  Roome,  if  you  have  your  reserves  on  deposit  in  any  of 
the  above  institutions,  you  may  now  know  that  they  are  being 
used  in  the  Morgan  syndicate  flotations  and  the  loans  to  the 
warring  nations  of  Europe.  I  do  not  know  how  close  a  study 
you  make  of  banking  matters,  but,  in  view  of  your  expressed 
blind  confidence  in  the  institutions  in  which  you  keep  your 
reserves,  I  would  call  to  your  attention  the  statement  only  re- 
cently made  by  Sir  George  Paish,  the  financial  authority  of  the 
British  Empire  that,  if  Great  Britain  keeps  on  spending  money 
as  she  is  doing,  she  may  have  to  suspend  specie  payments  and 
tell  the  world  she  is  unable  to  pay  her  debts.  I  would  also  call 
your  attention  to  the  statement  more  recently  made  by  Lord 
Charles  Beresford,  that  England  is  headed  toward  bankruptcy. 

In  view  of  these  warnings  by  Englishmen  of  prominence,  Mr. 
Roome,  do  you  not  think  it  would  perhaps  be  wise  if  you  were  to 
inquire  what  is  being  done  with  your  reserves?  You  say  your 
depositors  should  have  confidence  in  your  management,  or  close 


LOANS  TO  RUSSIA,  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND  123 

their  accounts.  But  surely,  some  assurances  are  due  them.  Must 
they  have  " blind "  confidence  in  your  management? 

Many  of  your  depositors  have  addressed  inquiries  to  me  con- 
cerning the  attitude  your  bank  has  adopted  toward  loans  to 
foreign  and  warring  nations.  I  feel  a  deep  responsibility  in 
answering  the  query  of  a  man  or  woman  regarding  the  safety 
of  his  or  her  life 's  savings.  Conscientiously  I  cannot  advise  such 
inquirers  to  have  blind  confidence  in  any  bank  official  who 
refuses  to  tell  them  what  he  is  doing  with  their  money,  and  who 
tells  them  that  if  they  don't  trust  him  they  should  remove  their 
accounts. 

This  is  a  case,  not  for  me,  but  for  the  Superintendent  of  the 
State  Banking  Department. 


THE    CASE    OF    THE    GREENWICH     SAVINGS    BANK 

shall  next  consider  the  following  letter  from  the  head  of 
the  Greenwich  Savings  Bank : 

THE  GREENWICH  SAVINGS  BANK 

(Incorporated  1833) 
246  and  248  Sixth  Avenue,  Borough  of  Manhattan 

New  York,  Oct.  22,  1915. 
My  dear  Sir : 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  inquiry  of  October  21st  I  would 
say  that  no  savings  bank  in  the  State  of  New  York  is  authorized 
by  law  to  invest  in  either  the  Anglo-French  loan  mentioned  by 
you  or  in  any  foreign  loan. 

I  would  also  say,  in  answer  to  your  second  question,  that  any 
depositor  calling  here  and  producing  his  bank-book  will  undoubt- 
edly be  satisfied  with  our  replies  to  his  inquiries. 

Yours  very  truly, 
(Signed)  JAMES  QUINLAN, 

President. 

The  Greenwich  Savings  Bank  bears  one  of  the  most  honored 
names  in  New  York  City's  banking  world.  It  has  been  noted  in 
the  past  as  a  model  of  sound  and  conservative  management.  Mr. 
Quinlan's  reply  is  kindly  and  courteous,  but  it  is  a  matter  of 
regret  that  he  will  not  respond  publicly  to  the  second  query 
addressed  to  him  on  behalf  of  his  depositors.  Savings  bank 


124  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

depositors  have  informed  me  of  the  rebuffs  they  have  met,  in 
making  personal  inquiries  at  institutions  on  these  questions. 
They  are  kept  waiting  in  outer  offices,  in  fruitless  efforts  to  see 
the  bank's  officials,  or  else  they  are  roundly  scolded  by  the  bank's 
paying  tellers. 

Since  Mr.  Quinlan  will  not  publicly  reply  to  the  question 
whether  the  Greenwich  is  keeping  its  surplus  funds  on  deposit 
in  the  Morgan  banking  institutions  participating  in  loans  to 
Russia,  France  and  England,  I  must  lay  the  following  informa- 
tion before  my  inquirers : 

TRUSTEES    OP    THE    GREENWICH    SAVINGS    BANK 

LOWELL  LINCOLN,  director  in  the  Mechanics  &  Metals  National 
Bank: — Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

B.  AYMAR  SANDS,  director  in  the  New  York  Trust  Company: 
— Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

BRADISH  JOHNSON,  director  in  the  Equitable  Trust  Com- 
pany:— Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

GATES  W.  MCGARRAGH,  President  of  the  Mechanics  &  Metals 
National  Bank;  director  in  the  Bankers'  Trust,  Guaranty 
Trust: — All  Members  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

WILLIAM  WOODWARD,  President  of  the  Hanover  National 
Bank;  director  in  the  Union  Trust  Company: — Members  of  the 
Morgan  Syndicate. 

ARTHUR  ISELIN,  director  in  the  Chemical  National  Bank; 
member  of  A.  Iselin  dr  Company: — Members  of  the  Morgan  Syn- 
dicate. 

JOHN  HARSEN  RHOADES,  member  of  Rhoades  &  Company: — 
Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

E.  S.  MARSTON,  President  of  the  Farmers'  Loan  &  Trust 
Company: — Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

ALBERT  H.  WIGGIN,  President  of  the  Chase  National  Bank; 
director  in  the  Bankers'  Trust  Company,  Guaranty  Trust  Com- 
pany:— Members  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  we  have  here  nine  trustees  of  the 
Greenwich  Savings  Bank,  who  are  identified  so  prominently  with 
seventeen  Wall  Street  banking  institutions,  all  of  which  are  par- 
ticipating, under  J.  Pierpont  Morgan's  leadership,  in  the  Anglo- 
French  loan  syndicate,  is  it  not  a  reasonable  question  to  have 


LOANS  TO  RUSSIA,  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND     125 

answered,  whether  any  of  the  reserves  are  kept  on  deposit  with 
the  above-named  banking  institutions  ? 

Personally,  I  think  that  a  statement  on  this  matter  should  be 
forthcoming  promptly.  All  the  more  so  in  consideration  of  the 
following  facts.  Mr.  John  Harsen  Rhoades,  one  of  the  trustees 
of  the  Greenwich,  on  September  17th  published  an  open  letter  in 
the  New  York  Times,  addressed  to  Dr.  Charles  J.  Hexamer, 
President  of  the  National  German- American  Alliance,  in  which 
he  said : 

"While  Americans  cannot  but  be  jealous  of  England's  pres- 
tige in  her  control  of  the  seas,  I  am  bound  to  say  that  I  am  quite 
satisfied  with  the  way  in  which  she  has  exercised  that  control. 
As  a  banker  and  a  citizen,  I  see  no  reason  why  we  should  not 
loan  the  Allies  such  money  as  they  desire,  without  collateral,  for 
ten  years  at  five  per  cent. ' ' 

I  was  astounded  when  I  reacj  that  statement,  coming  from 
Mr.  Rhoades,  who  has  occupied  so  honorable  a  position  in  the 
banking  world,  and  whose  name  has  been  so  strongly  identified 
with  the  Greenwich  Savings  Bank  for  many  years.  I  cannot 
understand  how  Mr.  Rhoades,  as  a  banker  and  a  citizen,  can  be 
satisfied  with  the  way  in  which  England  has  exercised  her  control 
of  the  seas.  In  that  he  stamps  with  his  approval  the  confiscation 
of  $15,000,000  in  American  meat  cargoes,  in  violation  of  the 
Declaration  of  London.  He  lends  his  approval  to  the  tremendous 
financial  and  industrial  losses  which  England  has  brought  upon 
the  South  by  her  violations  of  international  law  in  seeking  to 
destroy  American  commerce.  I  cannot  conceive  how  an  American 
citizen  can  stand  with  foreigners  against  his  own  countrymen. 
I  cannot  conceive  how  a  conservative  banker  can  be  willing  to 
loan  the  Allies  all  the  money  they  desire  without  collateral. 

When  I  read  statements  such  as  these  from  one  of  my  coun- 
trymen, I  do  not  believe  that  he  is  any  longer  qualified  to  be 
entrusted  with  the  savings  of  the  American  people. 

We  have  seen  that  several  of  the  trustees  of  the  Greenwich 
Savings  Bank  are  directors  of  the  Guaranty  Trust  Company.  In 
this  connection,  I  quote  the  following  lines  from  the  financial 
page  of  the  New  York  Times,  of  October  29th : 

Negotiations  by  France,  Great  Britain  and  Russia  for  separate 
credits  are  proceeding,  though  in  the  case  of  France  and  Great 


126  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Britain  they  are  being  held  up  pending  action  on  the  report 
carried  home  by  the  Anglo-French  Commission.  France  is  to 
get  $15,000,000  through  90-day  acceptances,  for  which  she  will 
pay  a  discount  rate  of  5  per  cent.,  and  J/2  per  cent,  for  acceptance 
or  commission.  These  bills  will  be  renewable  for  a  year,  making 
the  total  commissions  paid  2  per  cent,  and  the  return  to  the  bank- 
ing syndicate  which  will  advance  the  money,  7  per  cent.  Russia 
has  obtained  $5,000,000  from  the  Guaranty  Trust  Company  on 
90-day  bills,  which  are  renewable  five  times,  making  their  possible 
life  a  year  and  a  half.  It  was  understood  in  financial  circles 
that  this  money  cost  the  Russian  Government  well  over  7  per 
cent.  Bond  dealers  are  of  the  opinion  that  when  the  Anglo- 
French  loan  is  distributed,  the  investment  market  will  take  a 
large  amount  of  Russian  bonds  on  a  good  interest  basis. 

We  see  here  that  the  syndicate  members  are  making  huga 
profits,  "well  over  7  per  cent/'  in  the  case  of  Russia,  which  is 
paying  bankrupt's  toll.  The  bankers  who  make  these  profits  are 
not  risking  their  own  money.  They  are  risking  in  these  foreign 
ventures  THE  MONEY  PLACED  ON  DEPOSIT  WITH 
THEIR  INSTITUTIONS. 

Hoiv  many  millions  of  savings  bank  deposits  are  being  used  in 
these  great  gambling  transactions  f 


THE    CASE    OF    THE    UNION    DIME    SAVINGS    BANK 

I  next  submit  the  following  letter: 

UNION  DIME  SAVINGS  BANK, 
701  Sixth  Avenue,  Corner  40th  Street 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  October  21st,  1915. 
Dear  Sir : 

Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  20th  inst.,  I  would  say  that 
this  bank  has  not  participated  either  directly  or  indirectly  in  the 
Anglo-French  loan.  Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  A.  P.  KINNAN,  President. 

( 

Mr.  Kinnan's  letter  is  one  of  the  few  satisfactory  replies 
received,  since  it  undoubtedly  implies  that  none  of  the  reserves 
of  the  Union  Dime  are  being  used  in  the  Morgan  banks  of  Wall 
Street  for  their  syndicate  operations. 


LOANS  TO  RUSSIA,  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND     127 

THE  CASE  OF  THE  BANK  FOR  SAVINGS 

THE  BANK  FOR  SAVINGS 
In  the  City  of  New  York,  280  Fourth  Avenue 

October  22,  1915. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  20th 
inst.T  and  to  say  that  I  should  regret  it  exceedingly  if  any  of  the 
depositors  of  this  bank  were  apprehensive  as  to  the  safety  of  their 
money  or  the  soundness  of  the  institution.  There  is  absolutely  no 
occasion  for  any  such  fear.  Any  such  of  our  depositors  who  may 
make  inquiries  of  you  kindly  refer  to  the  bank,  which  is  the  place 
for  them  to  seek  and  get  all  the  information  to  which  all  depos- 
itors are  entitled.  Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  WALTER  TRIMBLE,  President. 

Mr.  Trimble's  sympathetic  letter  is  deeply  appreciated.  We 
have  received,  perhaps,  more  inquiries  from  depositors  of  the 
Bank  of  Savings  than  from  any  other  savings  institution  in 
New  York  City.  I  would  therefore  advise  them  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  generous  offer  of  the  President,  and  place  before  him 
the  following  facts : 


TRUSTEES    OF    THE    BANK    FOR    SAVINGS 

AUGUST  BELMONT,  director  in  the  National  Park  Bank;  mem- 
ber of  August  Bchnont  er  Company: — Members  of  the  Morgan 
Syndicate. 

C.  S.  BROWN,  director  in  the  Title  Guarantee  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, United  States  Mortgage  6r  Trust: — Members  of  the  Morgan 
Syndicate. 

HENRY  W.  DE  FOREST,  director  in  the  Metropolitan  Trust 
Company,  National  Bank  of  Commerce,  United  States  Trust 
Company: — All  members  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

CHARLES  A.  PEABODY,  director  in  the  Farmers'  Loan  and 
Trust,  Guaranty  Trust,  National  Bank  of  Commerce: — All  mem- 
bers of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

JAMES  S.  ALEXANDER,  President  of  the  National  Bank  of 
Commerce,  director  in  the  Bankers'  Trust  Company: — All  mem- 
bers of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

GEORGE  F.  BAKER,  JR.,  Vice-President  and  director  in  the 


128  WAE    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

First  National  Bank,  director  in  the  Chase  National  Bank: — All 
members  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

I  reproduce  these  interlocking  directorates  only  for  the  guid- 
ance of  the  depositors  of  the  Bank  for  Savings,  and  in  full 
confidence  that  the  President  of  the  savings  bank  will  give  them 
the  assurance  that  no  funds  of  his  institution  are  on  deposit  in 
the  Morgan  syndicate  institutions  mentioned. 

THE   EAST   RIVER    SAVINGS   INSTITUTION 

THE  EAST  RIVER  SAVINGS  INSTITUTION 
291-293-295  Broadway 

New  York,  Oct.  21,  1915. 
Dear  Sir : 

Your  communication  of  the  20th  instant  just  received,  and  in 
reply  we  beg  to  say  that  this  institution  is  purely  a  savings  bank 
and  under  the  law  we  are  prohibited  from  investing  in  the  char- 
acter of  securities  you  mention. 

Very  truly  yours, 
THE  EAST  RIVER  SAVINGS  INSTITUTION. 

(Signed)  D.  S.  RAMSAY,  President. 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  Mr.  Ramsay  was  not  more  explicit 
in  his  statement,  and  did  not  give  the  assurance  that  any  of  the 
reserves  of  his  institution  were  being  used  by  the  Wall  Street 
group  in  their  syndicate  operations.  But,  with  one  or  two  doubt- 
ful exceptions,  there  is  not  much  evidence  that  any  of  the  trustees 
are  identified  with  the  Morgan  syndicate  operations. 

THE  MANHATTAN  SAVINGS  INSTITUTION 

THE  MANHATTAN  SAVINGS  INSTITUTION 
644  and  646  Broadway,  Corner  Bleecker  Street 

New  York,  October  22,  1915. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  21st  inst.  I  beg  to  advise  you 
that  the  bonds  you  mention  are  not  legal  investments  for  New 
York  savings  banks. 

Very  truly  yours, 
(Signed)   JOSEPH  BIRD,  President. 

Mr.  Bird  ignores  the  question  whether  any  funds  of  his  insti- 
tution are  on  deposit  with  the  Morgan  banks  of  Wall  Street.  In 


LOANS  TO  RUSSIA,  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND     129 

the  circumstances  I  must  advice  inquirers  that  I  can  give  them 
no  assurances  in  this  respect  with  regard  to  this  institution. 
However,  it  is  only  just  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
composition  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  gives  no  evidence  of  affilia- 
tion with  the  Morgan  banks. 


GERMAN    SAVINGS    BANK,    BROOKLYN 

These  are  the  only  savings  banks  in  New  York  (Manhattan) 
that  have  made  public  frank  statements  that  they  will  not  permit 
the  use  of  any  of  their  reserve  funds  by  the  syndicate  banks  of 
AYall  Street,  in  syndicate  operations  in  behalf  of  foreign  loans  to 
the  warring  countries  of  Europe. 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  this  publication  that  many  of  the 
heads  of  the  leading  savings  bank  institutions  of  New  York  have 
declined  to  make  any  reply  to  the  queries  addressed  to  them  on 
behalf  of  their  depositors.  Among  these  we  note : 

THE    BOWERY    SAVINGS    BANK 

In  the  list  of  trustees  of  the  Bowery  is  MR.  STEPHEN  BAKER, 
director  in  the  Bankers'  Trust  Company: — Member  of  the  Mor- 
gan Syndicate. 

ROBERT  M.  GALLAWAY,  President  of  the  Merchants'  National 
Bank: — Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

WILLIAM  A.  NASH,  trustee  of  the  Title  Guarantee  and  Trust 
Company: — Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

Another  institution  regarding  which  we  have  had  many 
queries  from  our  readers  is  the 

i 

SEAMAN'S  BANK  FOR  SAVINGS 

Among  its  trustees  are  PRESIDENT  DANIEL  BARNES,  director 
in  the  Mechanics'  and  Metals'  National  Bank: — Member  of  the 
Morgan  Syndicate. 

P.  A.  S.  FRANKLIN,  director  in  the  American  Exchange  Na- 
tional Bank: — Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

EDWARD  AY.  SHELDON,  President  of  the  United  States  Trust 
Company: — Member  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate. 

SAMUEL  SLOAN,  director  in   the  Fanners'  Loan  and  Trust 


130  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

Company,  National  City  Bank: — Members  of  the  Morgan  Syndi- 
cate. 

V.  EVERIT  MACY,  director  in  the  Mechanics'  and  Metals'  Na- 
tional Bank,  trustee  in  the  Union  Trust  Company: — Members  of 
the  At  organ  Syndicate. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  these  custodians  of 
the  public  savings  that  they  do  not  own  the  money  which  their 
depositors  place  in  their  institutions.  State  and  Federal  laws 
only  too  clearly  show  that  they  merely  represent  their  depositors, 
whose  interests  they  must  guard,  and  to  whom  they  must  render 
strict  accounting  as  to  the  handling  of  their  money. 

We  counsel  patience  to  those  who  have  written  letters  to  us 
regarding  these  savings  banks  in  which  they  have  deposited  their 
funds.  We  advise  them  not  to  withdraw  their  deposits,  at  least 
not  before  interest  dates,  since  the  banks  would  only  reap  the 
benefit  of  such  steps.  We  promise  them  that  we  shall  not  let 
this  matter  rest,  that  in  the  end  these  gentlemen  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  to  their  depositors'  just  what  disposition 
they  are  making  of  the  savings  the  public  has  confided  to  their 
care. 


XIII. 

THE  GREAT  NEWS  CONSPIRACY— HOW  UNSCRUPU- 
LOUS NEWSPAPER  OWNERS,  AT  THE  BEHEST 
OF  WALL  STREET,  DELIBERATELY  DECEIVED 
THE  AMERICAN  PEOPLE. 

A  PRAYER  IN  BROADWAY. 

One  frosty  winter  afternoon, — it  was  January  19th,  1904, — a 
small  group  of  persons  assembled  on  the  triangle  in  Forty-second 
Street,  that  separates  Broadway  from  Seventh  Avenue.  Sud- 
denly all  heads  were  bared.  An  elderly  man  in  clerical  vestments 
began  to  speak, — I  think  most  of  us  remember  his  resonant  voice. 
It  was  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Codman  Potter,  Bishop  of  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Diocese  of  New  York : — 

"Almighty  God,  we  'beseech  Thee  to  pour  down  upon  this 
building  and  upon  all  the  undertakings  for  which  it  has  been 
erected,  Thy  divine  benediction. 

"Do  Thou  grant  to  those  who  are  concerned  in  this  enterprise 
Thy  divine  guidance  and  benediction,  so  that  they  may  be  enabled 
to  do  Thy  will  and  speak  Thy  truth  throughout  this  city  and 
nation." 

It  was  the  dedication  of  the  Times  Building. 

It  is  a  peculiar  trade,  this  newspaper  business.  It  shapes  the 
lives  of  members  of  its  craft.  Few  of  them  ever  make  much 
money,  and  still  fewer  ever  make  a  name.  "We  wash  the  dirty 
linen  of  the  public,"  as  Gaboriau  had  his  detectives  say.  But 
newspaper  men  have  an  ideal. 

Yes,  do  not  laugh,  you  who  meet  and  deal  with  newspaper 
men, — you  who  hate  them  because  they  have  antagonized  you ; 
or  you  who  use  them  for  your  own  purposes,  and  laugh  at  them 
in  your  sleeves.  Newspaper  men  have  an  ideal.  And  that  ideal 
is,  to  publish  the  news. 

That  phrase  is  a  technical  term  with  men  of  the  craft.  In 
using  it,  they  signify,  to  publish  the  truth.  "Truth,  truth  and 

131 


132  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

no  lie,  though  a  whole  celestial  lubberland  were  the  price  of 
apostacy. ' ' 

In  the  old  days  in  New  York,  we,  who  toiled  at  the  craft. 
were  very  proud  of  our  newspapers.  They  had  their  faults, 
heaven  knows.  Many  were  vulgar,  and  badly  written,  so  much 
so  as  the  New  York  World  is  to  this  day,  but  none  of  them  was 
venal. 

Then  Mr.  Adolph  S.  Ochs  came  here  from  some  southern 
town  and  took  hold  of  a  moribund  daily.  Gifted  with  industry 
and  intelligence,  he  built  it  up  to  a  paying  basis.  •  It  was  a  hard 
struggle  for  him  at  times,  I  believe,  as  in  1907,  when  he  had  to 
call  in  the  assistance  of  some  Wall  Street  bankers  to  finance  him. 
But  it  was  a  good  newspaper,  and  we  all,  I  think,  were  glad  to 
see  him  succeed. 

The  circulation  grew,  the  advertising  multiplied,  the  paper 
inspired  the  public  confidence  and  approval,  and  then  suddenly 
Mr.  Ochs  saw  himself  at  the  head  of  a  great  organ  that  spelled 
power.  Now  often  power  works  strange  transformations  in  a 
man. 

In  July,  1914,  Mr.  Ochs  was  publishing  a  series  of  articles 
on  Russia,  written  by  Kurt  Aram,  a  German  journalist.  One  of 
them  told  the  terrible  story  of  Warsaw.  I  doubt  whether  I  shall 
ever  forget  it.  One  paragraph  haunts  me  to  this  day  : 

"You  meet  old  and  young  men,  dressed  in  the  long  caftan, 
their  faces  corpselike,  their  eyes  like  dying  coals,  running  rest- 
lessly to  and  fro,  like  animals  in  a  cage,  to  earn  ten  kopecks 
somewhere — anywhere — in  order  to  buy  an  old  herring  and  some 
mouldy  bread,  so  that  their  wives  and  children  may  have  some- 
thing to  eat.  From  morning  to  night  they  pursue  one  idea,  one 
hope  only :  to  earn  those  ten  kopecks. ' ' 

About  ten  days  after  this  series  ended,  came  the  great  war 
in  Europe.  Ten  short  days,  and  on  the  tenth,  Ochs,  who  had 
been  picturing  the  horrors  of  Russian  rule,  had  suddenly  become 
the  friend  and  supporter  of  the  Romanoffs,  those  cruel  Czars, 
who  wink  at  Jewish  pogroms  and  smile  as  the  Cossack  knout 
lashes  the  backs  of  their  unhappy  people. 

OCHS,    FRIEXD    OF    THE    CZAR 

He  is  still  the  Czar's  friend.  He  said  the  other  day:  ''Some- 
thing hieratic,  symbolic,  Byzantine  clings  to  the  Czar  of  all  the 


THE    GREAT    NEWS    CONSPIRACY  133 

•ias.  A  stimulation  of  patriotism,  a  half -religious  fervor 
creeping  through  all  that  mighty  mass  of  men  and  races,  may 
be  stirred  thereby." 

"What  dreadful  cataclysm  can  occur  in  a  man's  life,  that  in 
ten  short  days  he  is  made  to  swing  to  the  side  of  his  father's 
persecutors,  renounces  his  father's  people  and  his  father's  blood?. 

Adolph  S.  Ochs  had  heard  the  voice  of  his  Master  and  obeyed 
his  Master's  bidding.  His  Master  is  the  Money  Trust. 

In  order  to  gain  a  clear  conception  of  what  Mr.  Ochs  has  done 
during  the  past  shameful  year,  we  must  inspect  carefully  the 
extraordinary  table  on  page  134. 

Here  is  conclusive  proof  that  for  the  last  six  months,  Mr.  Ochs 
has  been  printing  in  his  New  York  Times  a  daily  series  of  "fake" 
stories  in  furtherance  of  an  ignoble  end.  ' '  The  Turks  are  shoot- 
ing their  German  officers,"  and  "There  is  panic  in  Constanti- 
nople." Nobody  has  been  trying  to  deceive  Mr.  Ochs.  These 
are  all  "special  cable  despatches"  from  his  English  correspond- 
ents in  Athens,  Geneva,  Rome,  Cairo,  Copenhagen,  Petrograd. 

But  this  fake  English  news  is  directly  contradicted  by  the 
truthful  reports  sent  in  by  the  neutral  American  correspondents 
of  the  American  Associated  Press. 

At  the  very  time  when  the  lying  English  correspondent  says 
that  the  Turkish  Sultan  is  fleeing  from  Constantinople,  the 
Sultan  gives  an  interview  in  his  palace  in  Constantinople  to  the 
American  Associated  Press  correspondent,  praising  in  unmeas- 
ured terms  the  Germans,  whom  the  English  would  have  us 
believe  are  being  "shot  by  the  Turks." 

Why  does  Mr.  Ochs  subordinate  the  honest  American  de- 
spatches of  the  Associated  Press  and  play  up  the  "fake"  news  of 
the  venal  British  propaganda?  If  his  correspondent  in  Paterson 
or  Albany  were  to  send  in  "fake"  stories,  he  would  discharge 
him  on  the  spot.  Why,  then,  does  he  not  discharge  his  English 
correspondents,  who  have  been  sending  him  "fake"  despatches 
for  more  than  six  months? 

Is  this  intelligent  journalism?  Yes,  because  it  is  corrupt 
journalism. 

These  fakes  are  printed  in  the  New  York  Times  in  order  to 
sustain  the  waning  British  credit.  England  is  bankrupt,  and 
needs  our  money.  The  American  people  must  not  be  permitted 
to  realize  that  England  has  been  defeated  at  the  Dardanelles,  or 


134 


WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 


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THE    GREAT    NEWS    CONSPIRACY  135 

they  would  refuse  to  let  Morgan,  Britain's  agent,  take  their 
money  from  the  banks  to  pay  the  debts  of  England.  So,  after 
she  has  lost  five  warships  at  the  Dardanelles,  or  has  had  50,000 
men  slaughtered  by  the  Turks,  we  read  the  next  day  that  "the 
Turks  are  shooting  their  German  officers/'  so  that  we  may  be 
persuaded  that  England  will  win  somehow,  after  all,  because 
"there  is  a  panic  in  Constantinople." 

And  now,  in  the  day  when  the  bitter  end  has  come  to  England, 
the  truth  is  out  at  last,  as  it  must  always  come  out  in  the  end,  and 
we  hear  Lord  Milner  say  in  Parliament:  "Our  campaign  at  the 
Dardanelles  has  failed.  AYe  must  withdraw  our  troops."  So  all 
this  lying  was  in  vain.  YThat  do  the  readers  of  the  New  York 
Tunes  think  of  the  paper's  owner,  who  so  long  deluded  them? 

In  the  days  of  Horace  Greeley,  Dana,  or  the  elder  Bennett, 
public  opinion  was  molded  by  means  of  the  old-fashioned  edi- 
torial. But  the  news  columns  were  held  sacred.  Now  in  the  days 
when  newspapers  are  ruled  by  international  bankerSj  public 
opinion  is  poisoned  by  news  corrupted  and  faked  at  the  fountain 
source,  and  sent  out  from  Athens,  Rome,  Geneva,  Cairo,  Copen- 
hagen, Petrograd.  Unscrupulous  financiers  make  their  coin  by 
duping  their  fellow-countrymen. 

AMERICAN    JOURNALISM    DEGRADED 

To  this  depth  of  degradation  has  American  journalism  sunk ! 

Mr.  Ochs,  himself,  is  not  deceived.  He  is  an  intelligent  man, 
and  not  so  thoughtless  as  the  men  who  manage  what  old  Mayor 
Gaynor  used  to  dub  "the  rag-bag  newspapers."  Ah,  how  simple- 
minded  are  these,  and  how  cunning  are  the  others ! 

Mr.  Ochs,  do  you  recall  the  words  the  aged  Bishop  who  spoke 
that  day  when  you  bared  and  bowed  your  head  as  he  blessed  your 
building  in  Forty-second  Street  ? 

"Almighty  God,  we  beseech  Thee  to  grant  to  tlwse  men  Thy 
divine  guidance  and  benediction,  so  that  they  may  be  enabled  to 
do  Thy  will  a-nd  SPEAK  THY  TRUTH." 

Mr.  Ochs,  that  prayer  to  God  has  been  unheard. 

The  New  York  Times,  in  its  despatches  edited  by  the  London 
Censor,  has  tried  to  make  us  believe  that  neutral  countries,  like 
Sweden,  are  hostile  to  the  Germans.  It  quotes  alleged  extracts 
from  Sweden's  government  organ,  the  Stockholms  Tidningen,  to 
convey  this  impression. 


136  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF   WALL    STREET 

A  month  or  so  ago,  I  sent  to  Mr.  Ochs  an  editorial  from  the 
Stockholms  Tidningen,  in  which  this  grave  charge  was  made : — 

"As  concerns  England,  it  has  lately  exercised  a  ^peculiar  f  orm 
of  influence  which  one  may  characterize  as  worse  than  criminal, 
since  it  is  so  idiotic.  A  very  well  known  advertising  bureau,  in 
London,  G.  Street  &  Co.,  one  of  His  British  Majesty's  representa- 
tives in  the  Board  of  Trade,  offers  to  pay  for  the  insertion  in  our 
editorial  columns  of  accusations  against  the  Germans,  which  it 
has  agreed  to  distribute. 

"For  Swedish  newspaper  men  it  is  a  sad  disillusionment  to 
witness  in  such  quarters  a  belief  that  they  can  shape  newspaper 
opinion  by  such  methods. '  ' 

I  called  the  attenticfn  of  Mr.  Ochs  to  this  editorial,  since  it 
explained  why  truthful  Associated  Press  despatches  are  contra- 
dicted by  English  correspondents  in  Athens,  Geneva,  Rome, 
Cairo,  Copenhagen,  Petrograd.  There,  newspapers  have  accepted 
the  money  of  the  British  propagandists,  which  was  indignantly 
refused  by  Swedish  journalists. 

But  Mr.  Ochs  ignored  my  communication.  "Why  did  he  not 
publish  it?  I  offered  to  show  him  the  original  Swedish  news- 
paper that  made  the  charges.  What  had  he  to  fear  from  the 
publication  of  the  truth  f 

Mr.  Ochs,  do  you  remember  how,  some  months  ago,«you  fea- 
tured the  story  of  an  English  ship  captain  who 'arrived  here  and 
said:  "At  my  home  in  England  are  two  golden-haired  Belgian 
children,  whose  hands  have  been  cut  off  by  German  Huns.  Such 
fiendishness  is  inconceivable."  Men  in  New  York  sent  a  cable 
despatch  that  day  to  the  captain's  wife  in  England.  She  sent 
back  word  indignantly  that  there  were  no  such  golden-haired 
children  at  her  home,  nor  had  she  ever  heard  of  them. 

Did  you  then,  Mr.  Ochs,  print  an  editorial  on  this  story, 
condemning  the  English  dastard  who  would  circulate  so  base 
a  tale  against  a  brave  and  noble  race  ?  NO,  YOU  WOULD  NOT 
FEATURE  THE  TRUTH. 

.Mr.  Ochs,  you  published  in  extenso  the  Bryce  charges  of 
atrocities  against  the  Germans,  and  the  faked  Armenian  atrocities 
of  this  "atrocity  expert";  you  printed  the  Belgian  charges  of 
atrocities  against  the  Germans,  the  French  charges,  even  the 
Russian  charges.  But  when  the  German  Government  printed  its 
volume,  with  affidavits  of  the  sickening  enormities  practised  by 


THE    GREAT    NEWS    CONSPIRACY  137 

Russians  against  the  German  populations  of  East  Prussia,  YOU 
SUPPRESSED  THE  BOOK! 

Why  did  you  suppress  it,  Mr.  Ochs?  I  shall  tell  the  public 
why.  You  knew  that  the  English  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
war  raised  the  atrocity  cry  because  they  feared  the  enormities 
their  allies,  the  Russians,  would  commit  and  the  barbarities  their 
own  Indian  and  African  mercenaries  are  perpetrating  in  France 
to-day.  They  raised  a  false  clamor  to  conceal  the  truth.  You 
feared  to  publish  the  German  charges  against  the  Russians 
BECAUSE  YOU  THOUGHT  BY  THEIR  PUBLICATION, 
AMERICAN  SYMPATHY  MIGHT  BE  AWAKENED  FOR 
THE  GERMAN  RACE. 

Mr.  Ochs,  in  these  acts,  were  you  guided  by  the  benediction 
of  that  Almighty  God  to  whom  you  prayed 'that  Winter's  after- 
noon, that  you  might  be  .enabled  to  do  His'ivill  and  speak  His 
truth f 

Mr.  Ochs,  the  people  of  this  city  trusted  you  and  placed 
power  in  your  hand.  You  have  abused  that  power.  Why  have 
you  introduced  among  us  that  hideous  product  of  decadent  hands, 
the  engine  that  has  ruined  the  British  Empire  and  caused  its 
downfall,  the  CLASS  NEWSPAPER  ?  The  Class  Newspaper  is 
that  dreadful  org?n  that  secretly  works  in  the  interests  of  a 
corrupting  class,  and  always  against  the  best  interests  of  the 
people. 

THE    EXPATRIATE 

There  was,  many  years  ago,  another  man  in  New  Y'ork  City, 
who  held  great  power  in  his  hands  through  a  newspaper  which 
his  ingenious  father  had  built  up.  Every  New  Yorker  knows  to 
whom  I  refer — Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett,  once  well  known  in 
the  gayest  annals  of  our  city. 

Mr.  Bennett,  like  all  the  rest  of  us,  has  his  good  .qualities,  and 
others  that  are  not  so  good,- — such  as  certain  idiosyncracies  he 
imposes  on  the  management  of  his  newspaper,  one  of  these  being, 
as  I  recall,  that  no  employee  of  Jewish  blood  may  work  on  the 
New  York  Herald.  Mr.  Bennett  has  no  liking  for  the  Hebrew 
race,  and  that  seems  strange  when  one  considers  it,  since  he 
derives  his  not  inconsiderable  income  from  the  advertising  of 
members  of  that  very  race.  'There  is  some  old  biological  law, 
I  believe,  that  accounts  for  the  attraction  of  like  for  unlike.  And 


138  WAR    PLOTTERS    OF    WALL    STREET 

that  may  account  for  the  fact  that  Jewish  merchants  persist  in 
patronizing  a  property  whose  owner  will  positively  not  have  a 
Jewish  employee. 

But  no, — I  am  mistaken,  and  not  for  the  world  would  I  seek 
to  do  Mr.  Bennett  an  injustice.  There  once  was  a  Jewish  em- 
ployee on  the  Herald.  He  was  one  of  the  men  in  the  composing 
room.  This  fact  was  of  great  grief  to  one  of  Mr.  Bennett 's 
department  managers,  and  he  studied  how  to  remedy  this  un- 
toward situation  in  the  general  office  scheme  of  the  Herald.  It 
was  learned,  one  day,  I  believe,  that  the  Jewish  compositor  had 
remained  out  ten  minutes  too  long  for  luncheon,  or  had  violated 
some  other  office  regulation,  and  he  was  promptly  dropped. 

Mr.  Bennett  has  very  little  fear  for  anyone,  but  there  is  one 
body  of  men  for  whom  he  has  a  wholesome  respect, — and  that  is 
Big  Six,  the  New  York  Union  of  compositors,  who  have  a  very 
strong  organization.  Big  Six  did  not  view  with  favor  this  dis- 
charge from  the  Herald  of  a  man  whose  only  dereliction  was  his 
racial  or  religious  tie.  A  committee  of  Big  Six  took  up  this 
matter,  and  decided  that  Mr.  Bennett  must  pay  to  his  one-time 
compositor  his  full  wages  during  his  six  weeks  of  absence,  and 
reinstate  him,  the  alternative  being  that  the  Herald  Chapel  would 
be  called  upon  to  walk  out  in  a  body  unless  this  were  done. 

And  Mr.  Bennett  complied  with  the  recommendations  of  Big 
Six. 

Mr.  Bennett  has  some  other  peculiarities.  He  published  some 
very  unpleasant  advertisements  for  some  years,  until  the  Federal 
Government  admonished  him  sharply  to  desist.  The  circum- 
stances surrounding  this  affair  became  extremely  distasteful  to 
Mr.  Bennett,  and  he  went  abroad  to  make  his  home  in  foreign 
lands. 

He  became  an  expatriate.  He  makes  his  home  in  Paris,  having 
conceived  an  immense  fondness  for  the  French  race.  And,  in 
fact,  I  am  convinced  that  France  is  the  only  country  that  Bennett 
loves  to-day. 

The  great  war  came,  the  French  armies  were  defeated,  the 
country  was  invaded  and  the  land  lies  in  waste  and  ruin.  This 
has  been  a  great  sorrow  to  the  owner  of  the  Herald.  A  purpose 
grew  in  the  heart  of  this  expatriate, — he  dreamed  that,  by  the 
use  of  his  power,  he  could  rule  the  destinies  of  nations.  He  said 
to  himself :  ' '  I  shall  save  France.  I  shall  make  the  United  States 


THE    GREAT    NEWS    CONSPIRACY  139 

fight  for  her.    Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Americans  may  die,  but 
France  must  be  saved,  if  I  have  the  power  to  save  her. ' ' 

Mr.  Bennett  then  began  to  publish  inflammatory  stories  on 
the  war,  intended  to  awaken  the  hatred  of  his  former  countrymen 
against  the  Germans,  just  as  he  had  once  before  published  such 
stories  against  an  ex-President  of  the  United  States.  He  used 
the  same  machinery,  disgusting  cartoons,  and  basely  fabricated 
tales,  in  order  to  mislead  men,  and  instil  hatred  into  their  hearts. 
And  this  is  how  he  did  it : — 

THE  HERALD'S  CAMPAIGN  OF  HATE 

The  sentiments  of  James  Gordon  Bennett,  who  loves  France 
better  than  he  does  his  country  or  his  countrymf  n: 

He  raid,  July  16. — The  United  States*  cannot  permit 

France  to  be  struck  down,  even  if  we  have  to  go  to 

war  with  Germany  to  prevent  it. 
Herald,  May  10. — The  naturalized  citizen  of   German 

birth  or  parentage,  who  sympathizes  with  the  Kaiser, 

is  a  traitor  to  the  United  States.* 
He  raid.  May  20. — Professor  Henderson  of  Yale,   as  a 

German  sympathizer,  has  no  right  to  claim  America* 

as  his  country. 
He  raid,    May    11. — AYorse   things   can   happen   to   the 

United  States  than  war. 
Herald,  May  19. — Prepare  for  the  worst  possible  con- 

tingency. 
Herald,  May  30. — Sink  any  German  vessel  that  attempts  ^8 

to  leave  New  York. 

Herald,  May  31. — Germany  is  a  red-handed  murderer.  "^6 
Herald,  June  1. — Germany's  hands  are  dripping  withal 

American  blood. 
Herald,  June  2. — The  American*  people  want  no  friend-  "^8 

ship  with  Germany. 

Herald,  June  1. — Germany  has  invited  her  doom.  ~^i 

There  is  a  terrible  place  in  Europe  to-day, — a  place  more 
terrible  than  ruined  cities,  wasted  countrysides,  or  battlefields 
where  the  bones  of  dead  men  lie  bleaching.  It  is  in  France,  on 

*Who    authorized    Mr.    Bennett    to    speak    for    Americans? 


140  WAR    PLOTTERS    OP    WALL    STREET 

the  heights  overlooking  Lake  Geneva, — Evain-les-Bains  they  call 
it,  THE  REFUGE  OF  EUROPE'S  GAY  SET. 

American  expatriates  are  there,  indulging  in  extravagant 
revels,  that  rival,  they  say,  those  of  Monte  Carlo  in  other  days. 
Among  these  expatriates  I  noticed  the  other  day  the  name  of 
Mr.  Bennett.  Yes,  James  Gordon  Bennett  was  there,  walking 
to  and  fro  in  the  Casino  Gardens,  past  the  throngs  of  demi- 
mondaines  who  once  dazzled  the  Paris  race  courses  and  the  Bois. 
And  as  he  walked,  slowly  walked,  for  he  is  an  aged  man,  he  smiled 
to  himself  at  times,  for  he  was  waiting,  waiting,  to  see  his  former 
countrymen  plunged  into  Europe 's  war. 

THE  NESTORS  OF  NEW  YORK  JOURNALISM 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  two  Nestors  of  New  York's  jour- 
.nalism. 
On  the  one  hand — 

Adolph  S.  Ochs,  of  the  New  York  Times. 
On  the  other 

James  Gordon  Bennett ',  of  the  New  York  Herald. 

I  do  not  think  these  two  men  have  been  fair  to  the  thousands 
of  newspapermen  of  this  country,  who  do  the  work  that  builds 
up  the  great  newspaper  properties,  who  toil  the  long  hours,  take 
all  the  harsh  words  and  the  hard  blows,  but  working  in  the  public 
interest  in  the  furtherance  of  their  ideal : — To  publish  the  news. 
For  Mr.  Ochs  and  Mr.  Bennett  have  not  "published  the  news." 
They  have  deliberately  misled,  with  system  and  persistence,  the 
American  people,  who  are  entitled  to  know  the  news. 

Among  newspapermen,  when  one  among  them  has  disgraced 
his  craft,  it  is  customary  to  say :  "  He  fouled  our  nest. ' ' 

Speaking  on  behalf  of  the  conscientious  newspapermen  of  my 
country,  and  I  think  I  know  their  views,  I  feel  that  I  must  say 
to  Mr.  Ochs  and  Mr.  Bennett :  ' '  Gentlemen,  you  two  have  fouled 
our  nest. ' ' 


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